Cannibalism as a life boat mechanism |
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Authors: | F van den Bosch A M de Roos W Gabriel |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Theoretical Biology, State University of Leiden, Groenhovenstraat 5, 2311 BT Leiden, The Netherlands;(2) Abt. für Ökophysiologie, Max-Planck-Institut für Limnologie, Postfach 165, D-2320 Plön, Federal Republic of Germany |
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Abstract: | Under certain conditions a cannibalistic population can survive when food for the adults is too scarce to support a non-cannibalistic population. Cannibalism can have this lifeboat effect if (i) the juveniles feed on a resource inaccessible to the adults; and (ii) the adults are cannibalistic and thus incorporate indirectly the inaccessible resource. Using a simple model we conclude that the mechanism works when, at low population densities, the average yield, in terms of new offspring, due to the energy provided by one cannibalized juvenile is larger than one. |
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Keywords: | Structured population model McKendrick equation Subcritical bifurcation Solver |
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