Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Experimental Demonstration Of An Allee Effect In Microbial Populations, Rajreni B. Kaul, Andrew M. Kramer, Fred C. Dobbs, John M. Drake
Experimental Demonstration Of An Allee Effect In Microbial Populations, Rajreni B. Kaul, Andrew M. Kramer, Fred C. Dobbs, John M. Drake
OES Faculty Publications
Microbial populations can be dispersal limited. However, microorganisms that successfully disperse into physiologically ideal environments are not guaranteed to establish. This observation contradicts the Baas-Becking tenet: ‘Everything is everywhere, but the environment selects’. Allee effects, which manifest in the relationship between initial population density and probability of establishment, could explain this observation. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that small populations of Vibrio fischeri are subject to an intrinsic demographic Allee effect. Populations subjected to predationby the bacterivore Cafeteria roenbergensis display both intrinsic and extrinsic demographic Allee effects. The estimated critical threshold required to escape positive densitydependence is around 5, 20 or …