Genetic Allee effects and their interaction with ecological Allee effects

SummaryO_LIIt is now widely accepted that genetic processes such as inbreeding depression and loss of genetic variation can increase the extinction risk of small populations. However, it is generally unclear whether extinction risk from genetic causes gradually increases with decreasing population size or whether there is a sharp transition around a specific threshold population size. In the ecological literature, such threshold phenomena are called \"strong Allee effects\" and they can arise for example from mate limitation in small populations.\nC_LIO_LIIn this study, we aim to a) develop a meaningful notion of a \"strong genetic Allee effect\", b) explore whether and under what conditions