Evidence for positive density-dependent emigration in butterfly metapopulations.

ABSTRACT: A positive effect of (meta)population density on emigration has been predicted by many theoretical models and confirmed empirically in various organisms. However, in butterflies, the most popular species for dispersal studies, the evidence for its existence has so far been equivocal, with negative relationships between density and emigration being reported more frequently. We analysed dispersal in sympatric metapopulations of two Maculinea butterflies, intensively surveyed with mark-release-recapture methods for 7 years. Dispersal parameters, derived using the virtual migration model, were assessed against butterfly densities, which fluctuated strongly over the study period. Emigration was positively correlated with density, and this effect was particularly strong at densities above carryi

SUBMITTER: Nowicki P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3193995 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature