Delay-driven irregular spatiotemporal patterns in a plankton system

作者：Tian Canrong^*; Zhang Lai

来源：Physical Review E, 2013, 88(1): 012713.

DOI：10.1103/PhysRevE.88.012713

An inhomogeneous distribution of species density over physical space is a widely observed scenario in plankton systems. Understanding the mechanisms resulting in these spatial patterns is a central topic in plankton ecology. In this paper we explore the impact of time delay on spatiotemporal patterns in a prey-predator plankton system. We find that time delay can trigger the emergence of irregular spatial patterns via a Hopf bifurcation. Moreover, a phase transition from a regular spiral pattern to an irregular one was observed and the latter gradually replaced the former and persisted indefinitely. The characteristic length of the emergent spatial pattern is consistent with the scale of plankton patterns observed in field studies.

• 出版日期2013-7-11
• 单位盐城工学院