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Dispersion in time and space affect mating success and Allee effects in invading gypsy moth populations
Author(s) -
Robinet C.,
Lance D. R.,
Thorpe K. W.,
Onufrieva K. S.,
Tobin P. C.,
Liebhold A. M.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of animal ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.134
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1365-2656
pISSN - 0021-8790
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01417.x
Subject(s) - allee effect , gypsy moth , lymantria dispar , biological dispersal , biology , ecology , mating , zoology , population , demography , larva , sociology
Summary1 Understanding why invading populations sometimes fail to establish is of considerable relevance to the development of strategies for managing biological invasions. 2 Newly arriving populations tend to be sparse and are often influenced by Allee effects. Mating failure is a typical cause of Allee effects in low‐density insect populations, and dispersion of individuals in space and time can exacerbate mate‐location failure in invading populations. 3 Here we evaluate the relative importance of dispersal and sexual asynchrony as contributors to Allee effects in invading populations by adopting as a case study the gypsy moth ( Lymantria dispar L.), an important insect defoliator for which considerable demographic information is available. 4 We used release–recapture experiments to parameterize a model that describes probabilities that males locate females along various spatial and temporal offsets between male and female adult emergence. 5 Based on these experimental results, we developed a generalized model of mating success that demonstrates the existence of an Allee threshold, below which introduced gypsy moth populations are likely to go extinct without any management intervention.