Density and genetic relatedness increase dispersal distance in a subsocial organism

Although dispersal distance plays a major role in determining whether organisms will reach new habitats, empirical data on the environmental factors that affect dispersal distance are lacking. Population density and kin competition are two factors theorised to increase dispersal distance. Using the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology letters 2013-04, Vol.16 (4), p.430-437
Main Authors: Bitume, E. V., Bonte, D., Ronce, O., Bach, F., Flaven, E., Olivieri, I., Nieberding, C. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Araneae
Biogeography
Biological and medical sciences
Competition
Conditional dispersal
density
distance
Ecology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Genotype & phenotype
Inbreeding
invasion
kernel
Male
Parasites
Phylogenetics
plasticity
Population Density
Probability
relatedness
Social Behavior
Tetranychidae - genetics
Tetranychidae - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Although dispersal distance plays a major role in determining whether organisms will reach new habitats, empirical data on the environmental factors that affect dispersal distance are lacking. Population density and kin competition are two factors theorised to increase dispersal distance. Using the two‐spotted spider mite as a model species, we altered these two environmental conditions and measured the mean dispersal distance of individuals, as well as other attributes of the dispersal kernel. We find that both density and relatedness in the release patch increase dispersal distance. Relatedness, but not density, changes the shape of the dispersal kernel towards a more skewed and leptokurtic shape including a longer ‘fat‐tail’. This is the first experimental demonstration that kin competition can shape the whole distribution of dispersal distances in a population, and thus affect the geographical spread of dispersal phenotypes.
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/ele.12057