Spatial dynamics of a nutrient–phytoplankton system with toxic effect on phytoplankton

•Toxin produced by toxic phytoplankton can destabilize the plankton system.•Toxin can result stationary inhomogeneous spatial pattern formation in phytoplankton.•Oscillatory spatial pattern emerges in the presence of toxins. The production of toxins by some species of phytoplankton is known to have...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mathematical biosciences 2015-06, Vol.264, p.94-100
Main Authors: Chakraborty, Subhendu, Tiwari, P.K., Misra, A.K., Chattopadhyay, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ecosystem
Marine Toxins
Models, Theoretical
Nutrient–phytoplankton model
Pattern formation
Phytoplankton
Reaction–diffusion
Toxin
Turing instability
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Summary:•Toxin produced by toxic phytoplankton can destabilize the plankton system.•Toxin can result stationary inhomogeneous spatial pattern formation in phytoplankton.•Oscillatory spatial pattern emerges in the presence of toxins. The production of toxins by some species of phytoplankton is known to have several economic, ecological, and human health impacts. However, the role of toxins on the spatial distribution of phytoplankton is not well understood. In the present study, the spatial dynamics of a nutrient–phytoplankton system with toxic effect on phytoplankton is investigated. We analyze the linear stability of the system and obtain the condition for Turing instability. In the presence of toxic effect, we find that the distribution of nutrient and phytoplankton becomes inhomogeneous in space and results in different patterns, like stripes, spots, and the mixture of them depending on the toxicity level. We also observe that the distribution of nutrient and phytoplankton shows spatiotemporal oscillation for certain toxicity level.
ISSN:0025-5564
1879-3134
DOI:10.1016/j.mbs.2015.03.010