Evolutionarily stable strategies to overcome Allee effect in predator-prey interaction

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Mathematical Biology

Background:

• Species invasions are driven by ecological and evolutionary factors.
• Allee effects, where population growth rate decreases at low densities, pose challenges for species establishment.
• Evolutionary adaptations can influence population dynamics and invasion success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interplay between ecological mechanisms and evolutionary adaptations in species invasions.
• To model the impact of Allee effects on population dynamics and extinction risk.
• To determine the conditions for the emergence of evolutionarily stable strategies (ESS) in invading populations.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing an eco-evolutionary modeling approach.
• Analyzing inverse density-dependent effects and bifurcation scenarios.
• Employing a game-theoretic approach to derive analytical conditions for ESS.

Main Results:

• In the absence of evolution, Allee effects can lead to multi-stable ecological configurations and increased extinction risk near saddle-node bifurcations.
• Evolutionarily stable strategies (ESS) emerge under specific conditions, particularly when the ecological system exhibits stable steady states or population cycles.
• ESS are found at local optima of model parameters related to adopted evolutionary strategies.

Conclusions:

• Eco-evolutionary dynamics are crucial for understanding and predicting successful species invasions.
• Evolutionary adaptations can mitigate the negative impacts of Allee effects, reducing extinction probability.
• The study provides a theoretical framework for integrating ecological and evolutionary perspectives in invasion biology.