DETERMINISTIC AND STOCHASTIC ANALYSIS OF A SIZE-DEPENDENT PHYTOPLANKTON–ZOOPLANKTON MODEL WITH ADDITIVE ALLEE EFFECT

Abstract

In this paper, a deterministic size-dependent phytoplankton–zooplankton (PZ) model with additive Allee effect as well as its stochastic differential equation version is formulated to explore the growth dynamic of phytoplankton. A stability and Hopf bifurcation analysis is performed towards deterministic PZ model, and stochastic dynamic analysis is carried out on the stochastic PZ model, including the stochastic extinction, persistence in mean and the unique ergodic stationary distribution, which in turn provides a theoretical basis for numerical simulation analysis. Numerical simulations reveal that the synergistic effect of plankton body size and Allee effect can have a complex impact on the growth of phytoplankton in the deterministic and stochastic environments. One of the most interesting findings suggests that the reduced phytoplankton cell size can trigger bistable phenomenon, while the increased phytoplankton cell size or the weakened Allee effect has the ability to destroy such bistable phenomenon.