Zooplankton Settings

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K for Phytoplankton - Concentration of phytoplankton at which grazing is half of the maximum grazing rate.

Lower values of K mean that growth is closer to maximum growth rates for a given concentration of phytoplankton.

Vary from 40 to 150. What happens to zooplankton concentrations? What happens to the timing and magnitude of the phytoplankton bloom?

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Feed Minimum - Feeding threshold of phytoplankton.

Feed Minimum is the feeding threshold for zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton, expressed as Mg carbon per cubic meter of seawater. Below this concentration of phytoplankton, grazing is zero.

Vary from 0 to 100. What happens to phytoplankton and zooplankton?


Grazing Maximum - Maximum grazing term (0.4 1/d)

This is the maximum grazing rate of zooplankton on phytoplankton, expressed as the proportion of phytoplankton consumed on a daily basis.

Vary from 0.1 to 0.6. What happens to the magnitude and timing of the phytoplankton bloom? What happens to zooplankton?


Assimilation - Zooplankton assimilation of phytoplankton.

This expresses how efficiently zooplankton convert grazed phytoplankton biomass into zooplankton biomass, expressed as a proportion per day. If zooplankton are sloppy feeders and a lot of the phytoplankton is wasted (becoming detritus) the assimilation value is low.

Vary from 0 to 1. What happens to phytoplankton and zooplankton?


Mortality Rate - Zooplankton mortality rate.

The mortality rate is how quickly zooplankton die (and become detritus).

Vary from 0 to 0.2. What happens to phytoplankton and zooplankton?

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