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Unpacking the Allee effect: determining individual-level mechanisms that drive global population dynamics

View ORCID ProfileNabil T. Fadai, Stuart T. Johnston, View ORCID ProfileMatthew J. Simpson
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/774000
Nabil T. Fadai
School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
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  • For correspondence: nabil.fadai@qut.edu.au
Stuart T. Johnston
Systems Biology Laboratory, School of Mathematics and Statistics, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, AustraliaARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Melbourne School of Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
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Matthew J. Simpson
School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
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Abstract

We present the first solid theoretical foundation for interpreting the origin of Allee effects by providing the missing link in understanding how local individual-based mechanisms translate to global population dynamics. Allee effects were originally proposed to describe population dynamics that cannot be explained by exponential and logistic growth models. However, standard methods simply calibrate continuum models incorporating Allee effects to match observed global population dynamics, without providing any mechanistic insight. By introducing a stochastic individual-based model, with proliferation, death, and motility rates that depend on local density, we present the first modelling framework that gives rise to a range of global Allee effects. Using data from ecology and cell biology, we unpack individual-level mechanisms implicit in an Allee effect model and provide simulation tools for others to repeat this analysis.

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  • https://github.com/nfadai/Fadai_Allee2019

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted September 18, 2019.
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Unpacking the Allee effect: determining individual-level mechanisms that drive global population dynamics
Nabil T. Fadai, Stuart T. Johnston, Matthew J. Simpson
bioRxiv 774000; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/774000
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Unpacking the Allee effect: determining individual-level mechanisms that drive global population dynamics
Nabil T. Fadai, Stuart T. Johnston, Matthew J. Simpson
bioRxiv 774000; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/774000

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