Diapositiva PPT
Excitability quite generic in NPZ models for
reasonable parameter values.
Phytoplankton (or phytoplankton + nutrient) ® activator,
Recognizing excitability as a feature of plankton dynamics help to
- Red tides (and seasonal blooms) from a quasistable low population level to an outbreak level.
- Fast outbreak (ə week) followed by slower evolution (» months).
- The triggering mechanisms may be either small plankton inhomogeneities, or local or time-dependent perturbations in parameters (e.g. water warming, or shallowing of the thermocline).
- There is minimum interval between successive red tides (refractory period).
- It allow also to understand a kind of patchiness associated to localized blooms.