Question

Which of the following is an example of an Allee effect?

-Overhunting of passenger pigeons reduced their population to a point where reproduction became impossible.
-Tadpoles grow faster at low densities than high densities.
-Mountain pine beetles make pine trees more vulnerable to forest fires.
-White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease that is destroying bat populations.

Answer 1

An example of an Allee effect is when the overhunting of passenger pigeons reduced their population to a point where reproduction became impossible.

Step-by-step explanation:

An example of an Allee effect is when the overhunting of passenger pigeons reduced their population to a point where reproduction became impossible. When a population declines to very low numbers, individuals may experience reduced fitness due to phenomena like inbreeding depression or loss of cooperative behavior, resulting in a positive density feedback known as the Allee effect. In this case, the passenger pigeons were unable to successfully reproduce due to their small population size.

Source: Berec, L., Angulo, E., and Courchamp, F. (2007). Multiple Allee effects and population management. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 22, 185-191.

Keywords: Allee effect, population decline, overhunting, passenger pigeons, reproduction, fitness