Question

Why does social behavior as a density-dependent factor exemplifies the Allee effect?

Answer 1

When behaviors such as breeding, feeding, and defense are cooperative, they become more efficient or successful in larger social groups, resulting in increased reproductive success or survivorship.

More specifically, Allee effects occur when there are beneficial interactions among individuals that cause the per capita population growth rate to increase with the number of individuals. A demographic Allee effect can be weak or strong; it is strong when an Allee threshold exists, Typical examples include reproduction rate or offspring survival, which are lower at low population size.

The demographic Allee effect is the positive relationship between the overall individual fitness and population density. For example, cooperative hunting and the ability to more easily find mates, both influenced by population density, are component Allee effects, as they influence individual fitness of the population.