https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2015-50101-x
Regular Article
Simulation and analysis of a model dinoflagellate predator-prey system
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham NC 27708, USA
2 Biomathematics Program, Department of Mathematics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
3 College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware, Lewes, DE 19958, USA
4 Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
a e-mail: michael.mazzoleni@duke.edu
b e-mail: tdantone@ncsu.edu
c e-mail: kcoyne@udel.edu
d e-mail: rossi@math.udel.edu
Received: 15 May 2015
Revised: 2 November 2015
Published online: 15 December 2015
This paper analyzes the dynamics of a model dinoflagellate predator-prey system and uses simulations to validate theoretical and experimental studies. A simple model for predator-prey interactions is derived by drawing upon analogies from chemical kinetics. This model is then modified to account for inefficiencies in predation. Simulation results are shown to closely match the model predictions. Additional simulations are then run which are based on experimental observations of predatory dinoflagellate behavior, and this study specifically investigates how the predatory dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum uses toxins to immobilize its prey and increase its feeding rate. These simulations account for complex dynamics that were not included in the basic models, and the results from these computational simulations closely match the experimentally observed predatory behavior of K. veneficum and reinforce the notion that predatory dinoflagellates utilize toxins to increase their feeding rate.
© EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag, 2015
