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Toxic phytoplankton-induced spatiotemporal patterns

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Abstract

Here we consider a reaction diffusion system of three plankton populations, a zooplankton feeding on two phytoplankton populations, in two different settings. Firstly, the two phytoplanktons are both non-toxic and both enhance the growth of the grazing zooplankton. Secondly, we assume that one of the phytoplankton releases toxin and thereby inhibits the growth of the zooplankton. Our analytic and numerical study shows that the spatiotemporal distribution of the plankton species is uniform when both phytoplankton populations are non-toxic. However, in the presence of toxin-producing phytoplankton, the biomass distribution of all the plankton populations becomes inhomogeneous.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Matematica “Giuseppe Peano”, Università di Torino, via Carlo Alberto 10, 10123, Torino, Italy

    Sanjay Chaudhuri & Ezio Venturino

  2. Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, 203 B.T. Road, Kolkata, 700108, India

    Sanjay Chaudhuri & Joydev Chattopadhyay

Authors
  1. Sanjay Chaudhuri
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  2. Joydev Chattopadhyay
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  3. Ezio Venturino
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ezio Venturino.

Additional information

Sanjay Chaudhuri has been supported by “MIUR Bando per borse a favore di giovani ricercatori indiani” during his visit at the University of Torino.

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Chaudhuri, S., Chattopadhyay, J. & Venturino, E. Toxic phytoplankton-induced spatiotemporal patterns. J Biol Phys 38, 331–348 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10867-011-9251-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10867-011-9251-7

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