Population dynamics of a communally rearing mammal is driven by population‐level but not group‐level Allee effects

• Published in: The Journal of animal ecology Vol. 94; no. 5; pp. 823 - 836
• Main Authors: Ebensperger, Luis A., Lima, Mauricio, Morales, Carolina B., Hayes, Loren D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2025
• Subjects: animal ecology; Animals; Availability; Breeding; coloniality; cooperation strategy; data collection; Demographics; Demography; Dynamics; extinction; Fecundity; Female; Females; Fertility; Food; Food availability; Group dynamics; Group size; Male; mammals; Octodon - physiology; Octodon degus; Offspring; Population Density; Population Dynamics; population extinction; Population growth; Population studies; positive density‐dependence; progeny; Reproduction; risk; Social Behavior; species; Species extinction; food availability; population extinction; cooperation strategy; coloniality; positive density‐dependence

Theoretical and some empirical evidence suggest that the population dynamics of cooperative breeders (i.e. species with groups including non‐reproductive individuals that raise the offspring of dominant breeders) are more likely to exhibit Allee effects at the level of social groups rather than at t...