Oscillations in Plankton Models with Nutrient Recycling

Plankton–nutrient interaction models with both instantaneous and delayed nutrient recycling are considered. The system consists of three components: autotrophic phytoplankton, herbivorous zooplankton and dissolved limiting nutrient. Local stability of the equilibria is analysed. It is shown that the positive equilibrium loses its stability when the nutrient input concentration passes through a critical value and the Hopf bifurcation occurs that induces oscillations of the populations. Numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the obtained results.