Examination of the role of detritus food quality, phytoplankton intracellular storage capacity, and zooplankton stoichiometry on planktonic dynamics

Nutrient stoichiometric ratios are primary driving factors of planktonic food web dynamics. Ecological stoichiometry theory postulates the elemental ratios of consumer species to be homeostatic, while primary-producer stoichiometry may vary with ambient nutrient availability. The notion of phytoplankton intracellular storage is far from novel, but remains largely unexplored in modeling studies of population dynamics. We constructed a seasonally-unforced, zero-dimensional, nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton–detritus (NPZD) model that considers dynamic phytoplankton phosphorus reserves and quasi-dynamic zooplankton stoichiometry. A generic food quality term is used to express seston biochemical composition, ingestibility, and digestibility. We examined the sensitivity of the planktonic food web patterns to light and nutrient availability, zooplankton mortality, and detritus food quality as well as to phytoplankton intracellular storage and zooplankton stoichiometry. Our results reinforce earlier findings that high quality seston exerts a stabilizing effect on food web dynamics. However, we also found that the combination of low algal and high detritus food quality with high zooplankton mortality yielded limit cycles and multiple steady states, suggesting that the heterogeneity characterizing seston nutritional quality may have more complicated ecological ramifications. Our numerical experiments identify resource competition strategies related to nutrient transport rates and internal nutrient quotas that may be beneficial for phytoplankton to persevere in resource-limiting habitats. We also highlight the importance of the interplay between optimal stoichiometry and the factors controlling homeostatic rigidity in zooplankton. In particular, our predictions show that the predominance of phosphorus-rich and tightly-homeostatic herbivores in nutrient-enriched environments with low seston food quality can potentially result in high phytoplankton abundance, high phytoplankton-to-zooplankton ratios, and acceleration of oscillatory dynamics. Generally, our modeling study emphasizes the impact of both intracellular/somatic storage and food quality on prey–predator interactions, pinpointing an important aspect of food web dynamics usually neglected by the contemporary modeling studies.

► We present a seasonally-unforced nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton–detritus model.
► A generic food quality term is used to express seston biochemical composition.
► Seston nutritional quality may have complicated ecological ramifications.
► Homeostatic predators faced with low food quality can destabilize plankton systems.
► We stress the role of intracellular storage and food quality on plankton dynamics.