Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of Sex Ratio Bias on Ecosystems: The Case of the Sea Lamprey

Abstract

In recent years, the widely distributed invasive parasitic species, sea lamprey, through its unique sex-influenced reproductive strategy, has had far-reaching impacts on host populations and aquatic ecosystems, highlighting the importance of species interactions in ecosystems and their importance to ecological balance. To address this, an EcoGenderDynamics model was developed to analyze the ecosystem effects of deviations in the sex ratio of sea lamprey populations. This study simulated the dynamic evolutionary pattern, as a result, the expression of the function of sex ratio and resource availability, and when the average resource availability was lower than 83% of the satiation level of each sea lamprey, the percentage of male lamprey increased significantly, gradually increasing from an initial 52% to 76.4%, and then slowly increasing and stabilizing. Also, a comprehensive assessment system was established to comprehensively evaluate the specific impact indicators of the sex ratio of the lamprey in the ecosystem. The results showed that in the case of insufficient resources, the population could improve its stability through the mechanism of adjusting the sex ratio, thus achieving a certain balance with the environment through a certain degree of showing weakness, indicating the importance of the ability to change the sex ratio for the survival of the population.