Effect of zooplankton growth rate on the spatiotemporal dynamics of plankton communities in heterogeneous environments

Tikhonova, I.A., Li, B.L., Malchow, H. and Medvinsky, A.B. (2003) Effect of zooplankton growth rate on the spatiotemporal dynamics of plankton communities in heterogeneous environments. Biophysics, 48 (5), 832-839.

Abstract

A conceptual mathematical model of the reaction-diffusion type was used to study the basic mechanisms underlying the patchy spatial distribution and intricate temporal behavior of plankton in an inhomogeneous medium. The model describes trophic interactions of the prey-predator type between phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish in surface waters, assuming that plankton is passively driven by turbulent diffusion. Simulations suggest the different growth rates of phytoplankton in neighboring biotopes to be the cause of patch formation in the spatial distribution of plankton. Analysis of the model shows that the biomass of phytoplankton and zooplankton may exhibit regular temporal dynamics or vary chaotically with time. If the habitat conditions are heterogeneous, the spatiotemporal dynamics of plankton depends significantly on the rate of fish predation upon zooplankton.

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Contributors

Author: I.A. Tikhonova

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