Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026

Chemotactic Response of Marine Micro-Organisms to Micro-Scale Nutrient Layers
Published on: May 28, 2007
Phytoplankton-chytrid-zooplankton dynamics via a reaction-diffusion-advection mycoloop model
Jimin Zhang1, Xu Han1, Hao Wang2
1School of Mathematical Sciences, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, 150080, Heilongjiang, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Mycoloop is an important aquatic food web composed of phytoplankton, chytrids (one dominant group of parasites in aquatic ecosystems), and zooplankton. Chytrids infect phytoplankton and fragment them for easy consumption by zooplankton. The free-living chytrid zoospores are also a food resource for zooplankton. A dynamic reaction-diffusion-advection mycoloop model is proposed to describe the Phytoplankton-chytrid-zooplankton interactions in a poorly mixed aquatic environment. We analyze the dynamics of the mycoloop model to obtain dissipativity, steady state solutions, and persistence. We rigorously derive several critical thresholds for phytoplankton or zooplankton invasion and chytrid transmission among phytoplankton. Numerical diagrams show that varying ecological factors affect the formation and breakup of the mycoloop, and zooplankton can inhibit chytrid transmission among phytoplankton. Furthermore, this study suggests that mycoloop may either control or cause phytoplankton blooms.
Related Concept Videos
Diversity of Protists I
Overview of Protists
Diversity of Protists III
Diversity of Protists IV
Marine Microbial Ecology
Freshwater Microbial Ecology

