A 3D Individual-Based Model to Study Effects of Chemotaxis, Competition and Diffusion on the Motile-Phytoplankton Aggregation
Authored by Ilhem Bouderbala, Saadi Nadjia El, Alassane Bah, Pierre Auger
Date Published: 2018
DOI: 10.1007/s10441-018-9318-y
Sponsors:
No sponsors listed
Platforms:
GAMA
Model Documentation:
ODD
Pseudocode
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
In this paper, we develop a 3D-individual-based model (IBM) to
understand effect of various small-scale mechanisms in phytoplankton
cells, on the cellular aggregation process. These mechanisms are:
spatial interactions between cells due to their chemosensory abilities
(chemotaxis), a molecular diffusion and a demographical process. The
latter is considered as a branching process with a density-dependent
death rate to take into account the local competition on resources. We
implement the IBM and simulate various scenarios under real parameter
values for phytoplankton cells. To quantify the effects of the different
processes quoted above on the spatial and temporal distribution of
phytoplankton, we used two spatial statistics: the Clark-Evans index and
the group belonging percentage. Our simulation study highlights the role
of the branching process with a weak-to-medium competition in
reinforcing the aggregating structure that forms from attraction
mechanisms (under suitable conditions for diffusion and attraction
forces), and shows by contrast that aggregations cannot form when
competition is high.
Tags
Individual-based model
Simulation
Evolution
behavior
population
Protocol
Equations
Vertical-distribution
Particles
Nonlocal model
Phytoplankton aggregation
Density-dependent
mortality model
Chemosensory ability
Nearest-neighbor
index
Group belonging percentage
Mixed water columns
Coagulation