Fig. 2: Fundamental behavior of phytoplankton size distributions and biomass in contrasting environments.
From: Phytoplankton community structuring and succession in a competition-neutral resource landscape
a Canonical phytoplankton size distribution for (red line) a stable oligotrophic systems where abundance of all size classes is suppressed by low nutrients, (blue line) a stable mesotrophic system where nutrients are elevated, and (green line) a phytoplankton bloom where a seasonally variable environment creates favorable changes in growth conditions that preferentially enhance larger phytoplankton due to impacts on predator–prey relationships. b Same data as in (a) but with (x axis) cell diameter converted to cell volume and (y axis) cell abundance converted to biomass assuming a constant biomass per unit volume98 and integrated over logarithmically spaced bins.21
