Allee effect

The Allee effect is a phenomenon in biology characterized by a correlation between population size or density and the mean individual fitness (often measured as per capita population growth rate) of a population or species.

Although the concept of Allee effect had no title at the time, it was first described in the 1930s by its namesake, Warder Clyde Allee. Through experimental studies, Allee was able to demonstrate that goldfish grow more rapidly when there are more individuals within the tank. This led him to conclude that aggregation can improve the survival rate of individuals, and that cooperation may be crucial in the overall evolution of social structure. The term "Allee principle" was introduced in the 1950s, a time when the field of ecology was heavily focused on the role of competition among and within species. The classical view of population dynamics stated that due to competition for resources, a population will experience a reduced overall growth rate at higher density and increased growth rate at lower density. In other words, individuals in a population would be better off when there are fewer individuals around due to a limited amount of resources (see logistic growth). However, the concept of the Allee effect introduced the idea that the reverse holds true when the population density is low. Individuals within a species often require the assistance of another individual for more than simple reproductive reasons in order to persist. The most obvious example of this is observed in animals that hunt for prey or defend against predators as a group.

The generally accepted definition of Allee effect is positive density dependence, or the positive correlation between population density and individual fitness. It is sometimes referred to as "undercrowding" and it is analogous (or even considered synonymous by some) to "depensation" in the field of fishery sciences. Listed below are a few significant subcategories of the Allee effect used in the ecology literature.

The component Allee effect is the positive relationship between any measurable component of individual fitness and population density. The demographic Allee effect is the positive relationship between the overall individual fitness and population density.

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