Populations of African wild dogs, Lycaon pictus, have been in decline for a numb
ID: 179815 • Letter: P
Question
Populations of African wild dogs, Lycaon pictus, have been in decline for a number of years due to habitat fragmentation and hunting pressure. These canines have an intricate social structure that is essential for foraging, breeding and survival. For example, pups are raised and cared for communally, and hunting is carried out as a pack. Explain how the Allee effect, or a decrease in growth rate when the population is too small, could influence measures to conserve and protect wild dog populations that are in decline.
Explanation / Answer
The current decline of the highly endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) may be partly due to the population dynamics induced by their social system. African wild dogs are obligate co-operators, and their need for helpers could generate inverse density dependence at the pack level.
Alee effect, leading to a lower population size and a higher risk of population extinction, compared to populations with direct density dependence. This is due to three different processes. All three processes can increase population extinction individually and probably occur simultaneously in African wild dogs. First, inverse density dependence causes significantly higher rates of pack extinction. Second, it also increases the probability of failure to colonize territories by founders. Third, the Allee effect at the pack level (with a critical number of individuals), generates an Allee effect at the population level (with a critical number of packs). These three processes are likely to apply to other obligate co-operative breeders.