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On the origin of plankton patchiness

Author

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  • Vilar, J.M.G.
  • Solé, R.V.
  • Rubı́, J.M.

Abstract

Plankton is the productive base of aquatic ecosystems and plays a major role in the global control of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Nevertheless, after intensive study, the factors that drive its spatial distribution are still far from being clear. The models proposed so far show very limited agreement with actual data as many of their results are not consistent with field observations. Here, we show that fluctuations and turbulent diffusion in standard prey–predator models are able to accurately and consistently explain plankton field observations at mesoscales (1–100km). This includes not only the spatial pattern but also its temporal evolution. We explicitly elucidate the interplay between physical and biological factors, suggesting that the form in which small-scale biotic fluctuations are transferred to larger scales may constitute one of the key elements in determining the spatial distribution of plankton in the sea.

Suggested Citation

  • Vilar, J.M.G. & Solé, R.V. & Rubı́, J.M., 2003. "On the origin of plankton patchiness," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 317(1), pages 239-246.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:317:y:2003:i:1:p:239-246
    DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(02)01322-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. W. R. Young & A. J. Roberts & G. Stuhne, 2001. "Reproductive pair correlations and the clustering of organisms," Nature, Nature, vol. 412(6844), pages 328-331, July.
    2. Edward R. Abraham, 1998. "The generation of plankton patchiness by turbulent stirring," Nature, Nature, vol. 391(6667), pages 577-580, February.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Marick, Sounov & Bhattacharya, Santanu & Bairagi, Nandadulal, 2023. "Dynamic properties of a reaction–diffusion predator–prey model with nonlinear harvesting: A linear and weakly nonlinear analysis," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 175(P1).
    3. Della Rossa, Fabio & Fasani, Stefano & Rinaldi, Sergio, 2013. "Conditions for patchiness in plankton models," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 95-100.
    4. Hillmer, Ingrid & van Reenen, Penelope & Imberger, Jörg & Zohary, Tamar, 2008. "Phytoplankton patchiness and their role in the modelled productivity of a large, seasonally stratified lake," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 218(1), pages 49-59.

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