title: Toxic phytoplankton-induced spatiotemporal patterns.
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.
authors: Dipartimento di Matematica "Giuseppe Peano", Università di Torino, via Carlo Alberto 10, 10123 Torino, Italy ; Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, 203 B.T. Road, Kolkata, 700108 India.
authors: Sanjay
authors: S
authors: Chaudhuri
authors: Joydev
authors: J
authors: Chattopadhyay
authors: Ezio
authors: E
authors: Venturino
keywords: Diffusion; Diffusive instability; Paradox of plankton; Plankton dynamics; Toxin inhibition; Toxin-producing phytoplankton