Allee Effects in Fisheries.pptVIP

Allee Effects in Fisheries Part I of lecture Density dependence – what is density dependence? Competition Logistic population dynamics – based on assumption of competition at high density What about low density? Not always good for organisms either If organisms suffer (= lower fitness) at low density get another kind of density dependence – an ALLEE EFFECT Density dependence Population parameters depend on population density What are population parameters? GROWTH RATE (Von Bertalanffy’s k) TIME TO MATURITY REPRODUCTIVE OUTPUT MORTALITY RATE ? Depend on individual fitness Sidebar – pop. size vs. density Density = number per unit area (per = divide by) Population size usually measured in a given area anyway i.e. as long as the area doesn’t change in the middle of your calculations, population size and population density are EQUIVALENT Density a more meaningful measure – hence DENSITY DEPENDENCE Population parameters Growth rates Reproductive output Time to maturity Mortality rates Fitness Competition: main form of density dependence Low density = plenty of food, space… = good conditions = high fitness = population gets bigger High density = not much food, space etc to spare = poor conditions = low fitness = population stays the same (at population carrying capacity) Traditional population dynamics: logistic equation Logistic equation (if you only know one equation in ecology, this is the one to know) Verhulst (famous Belgian!) Assumption of logistic dynamics Logistic dynamics assumes that fitness declines as population density increases Assumes that fitness is maximum when population density is (close to) zero Logistic population dynamics Population dynamics and fisheries management Fisheries management assumes that when you fish a population down, it can recover Fitness increases when population size or density decreases Sustainable fisheries management assumes logistic population dynamics Logistic population dynamics Broadcast spawning Fisheries for broadcast