title: Dynamics of Predator-Prey Metapopulations with Allee Effects.
abstract: Allee effects increasingly are recognized as influential determinants of population dynamics, especially in disturbed landscapes. We developed a predator-prey metapopulation model to study the impact of an Allee effect on predator-prey. The model incorporates habitat destruction and predators with imperfect information about prey distribution. Criteria are established for the existence and stability of equilibria, and the possible existence of a limit cycle is discussed. Numerical bifurcation analysis of the model is carried out to examine the impact of Allee effects as well as other key processes on trophic dynamics. Inclusion of Allee effects produces a richer array of dynamics than earlier models in which it was absent. When prey interacts with generalist predators, Allee effects operate synergistically to depress prey populations. Allee effects are more likely to depress occupancy levels when destruction of habitat patches is moderate; at severe levels of destruction, Allee effects are swamped by demographic effects of habitat loss. Stronger Allee effects correspond to lower thresholds of predator colonization rates at which prey become extinct. We discuss implications of our model for conservation of rare species as well as pest management via biocontrol.
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics and Statistics, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130024, Jilin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics and Statistics, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130024, Jilin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Purdue University, 150 North University Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. zfeng@math.purdue.edu.
authors.forename: Zhilan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Swihart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D020387:Food Chain; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D008954:Models, Biological; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011235:Predatory Behavior
keywords: Allee effect; Allee effects in metapopulation models; Metapopulation; Predator–prey; Predator–prey systems