The impact of the allee effect in dispersal and patch-occupancy age on the dynamics of metapopulations.
In this paper, we introduce a Levins-type metapopulation model with empty and occupied patches, and dispersing population. We structure the proportion of occupied patches according to the patch-occupancy age. We observe that patch-occupancy age may destabilize the metapopulation, leading to persistent oscillations. We also allow for the dispersal rate to vary with the proportion of empty patches in a monotone or unimodal way. The unimodal dependence leads to multiple non-trivial equilibria and bistability when the reproduction number of the metapopulation R < 1 but greater than a lower critical value R(*). We show that the metapopulation will persist independently of its initial status if R > 1.
Martcheva
Maia
M
Department of Mathematics, University of Florida, 358 Little Hall, PO Box 118105, Gainesville, FL 32611-8105, USA. maia@math.ufl.edu
Bolker
Benjamin M
BM
D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D008954:Models, Biological; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics