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We propose a three-component discrete-time model of the phytoplankton-zooplankton community, in which toxic and non-toxic species of phytoplankton compete for resources. The use of the Holling functional response of type II allows us to describe an interaction between zooplankton and phytoplankton. With the Ricker competition model, we describe the restriction of phytoplankton biomass growth by the availability of external resources (mineral nutrition, oxygen, light, etc.). Many phytoplankton species, including diatom algae, are known not to release toxins if they are not damaged. Zooplankton pressure on phytoplankton decreases in the presence of toxic substances. For example, Copepods are selective in their food choices and avoid consuming toxin-producing phytoplankton. Therefore, in our model, zooplankton (predator) consumes only non-toxic phytoplankton species being prey, and toxic species phytoplankton only competes with non-toxic for resources.

We study analytically and numerically the proposed model. Dynamic mode maps allow us to investigate stability domains of fixed points, bifurcations, and the evolution of the community. Stability loss of fixed points is shown to occur only through a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations. The Neimark – Sacker scenario leading to the appearance of quasiperiodic oscillations is found to realize as well. Changes in intrapopulation parameters of phytoplankton or zooplankton can lead to abrupt transitions from regular to quasi-periodic dynamics (according to the Neimark – Sacker scenario) and further to cycles with a short period or even stationary dynamics. In the multistability areas, an initial condition variation with the unchanged values of all model parameters can shift the current dynamic mode or/and community composition.

The proposed discrete-time model of community is quite simple and reveals dynamics of interacting species that coincide with features of experimental dynamics. In particular, the system shows behavior like in prey-predator models without evolution: the predator fluctuations lag behind those of prey by about a quarter of the period. Considering the phytoplankton genetic heterogeneity, in the simplest case of two genetically different forms: toxic and non-toxic ones, allows the model to demonstrate both long-period antiphase oscillations of predator and prey and cryptic cycles. During the cryptic cycle, the prey density remains almost constant with fluctuating predators, which corresponds to the influence of rapid evolution masking the trophic interaction.

Base long-term modern scenarios of hydrochemical and temperature regimes of the Sea of Azov were considered. New schemes of modeling mechanisms of algal adaptation to changes in the hydrochemical regime and temperature were proposed. In comparison to the traditional ecological-evolutionary schemes, these models have a relatively small dimension, high speed and allow carrying out various calculations on long-term perspective (evolutionally significant times). Based on the ecology-evolutionary model of the lower trophic levels the impact of these environmental factors on the dynamics and microevolution of algae in the Sea of Azov was estimated. In each scenario, the calculations were made for 100 years, with the final values of the variables and parameters not depending on the choice of the initial values. In the process of such asymptotic computer analysis, it was found that as a result of climate warming and temperature adaptation of organisms, the average annual biomass of thermophilic algae (Pyrrophyta and Cyanophyta) naturally increases. However, for a number of diatom algae (Bacillariophyta), even with their temperature adaptation, the average annual biomass may unexpectedly decrease. Probably, this phenomenon is associated with a toughening of competition between species with close temperature parameters of existence. The influence of the variation in the chemical composition of the Don River’s flow on the dynamics of nutrients and algae of the Sea of Azov was also investigated. It turned out that the ratio of organic forms of nitrogen and phosphorus in sea waters varies little. This stabilization phenomenon will take place for all high-productive reservoirs with low flow, due to autochthonous origin of larger part of organic matter in water bodies of this type.

Execution or violation of the principle of competitive exclusion in communities is the subject of many studies. The principle of competitive exclusion means that coexistence of species in community is impossible if the number of species exceeds the number of controlling mutually independent factors. At that time there are many examples displaying the violations of this principle in the natural systems. The explanations for this paradox vary from inexact identification of the set of factors to various types of spatial and temporal heterogeneities. One of the factors breaking the principle of competitive exclusion is intraspecific competition. This study holds the model of community with two species and one influencing factor with density-dependent mortality and spatial heterogeneity. For such models possibility of the existence of stable equilibrium is proved in case of spatial homogeneity and negative effect of the species on the factor. Our purpose is analysis of possible variants of dynamics of the system with spatial heterogeneity under the various directions of the species effect on the influencing factor. Numerical analysis showed that there is stable coexistence of the species agreed with homogenous spatial distributions of the species if the species effects on the influencing factor are negative. Density-dependent mortality and spatial heterogeneity lead to violation of the principle of competitive exclusion when equilibriums are Turing unstable. In this case stable spatial heterogeneous patterns can arise. It is shown that Turing instability is possible if at least one of the species effects is positive. Model nonlinearity and spatial heterogeneity cause violation of the principle of competitive exclusion in terms of both stable spatial homogenous states and quasistable spatial heterogeneous patterns.

The work focuses on mathematical modeling of light influence mechanisms on macromolecular composition of microalgae batch culture. It is shown that even with a single limiting factor, the growth of microalgae is associated with a significant change in the biochemical composition of the biomass in any part of the batch curve. The well-known qualitative models of microalgae are based on concepts of enzymatic kinetics and do not take into account the possible change of the limiting factor during batch culture growth. Such models do not allow describing the dynamics of the relative content of biochemical components of cells. We proposed an alternative approach which is based on generally accepted two-stage photoautotrophic growth of microalgae. Microalgae biomass can be considered as the sum of two macromolecular components — structural and reserve. At the first stage, during photosynthesis a reserve part of biomass is formed, from which the biosynthesis of cell structures occurs at the second stage. Model also assumes the proportionality of all biomass structural components which greatly simplifies mathematical calculations and experimental data fitting. The proposed mathematical model is represented by a system of two differential equations describing the synthesis of reserve biomass compounds at the expense of light and biosynthesis of structural components from reserve ones. The model takes into account that a part of the reserve compounds is spent on replenishing the pool of macroergs. The rates of synthesis of structural and reserve forms of biomass are given by linear splines. Such approach allows us to mathematically describe the change in the limiting factor with an increase in the biomass of the enrichment culture of microalgae. It is shown that under light limitation conditions the batch curve must be divided into several areas: unlimited growth, low cell concentration and optically dense culture. The analytical solutions of the basic system of equations describing the dynamics of macromolecular biomass content made it possible to determine species-specific coefficients for various light conditions. The model was verified on the experimental data of biomass growth and dynamics of chlorophyll $a$ content of the red marine microalgae Pоrphуridium purpurеum batch culture.

In the development of the previously obtained result on modeling the dynamics of vegetation cover, due to variations in the temperature background, a new scheme for the interval analysis of the dynamics of floristic images of formations is presented in the case when the parameter of the response rate of the model of the dynamics of each counting plant species is set by the interval of scatter of its possible values. The detailed description of the functional parameters of macromodels of biodiversity, desired in fundamental research, taking into account the essential reasons for the observed evolutionary processes, may turn out to be a problematic task. The use of more reliable interval estimates of the variability of functional parameters “bypasses” the problem of uncertainty in the primary assessment of the evolution of the phyto-resource potential of the developed controlled territories. The solutions obtained preserve not only a qualitative picture of the dynamics of species diversity, but also give a rigorous, within the framework of the initial assumptions, a quantitative assessment of the degree of presence of each plant species. The practical significance of two-sided estimation schemes based on the construction of equations for the upper and lower boundaries of the trajectories of the scatter of solutions depends on the conditions and measure of proportional correspondence of the intervals of scatter of the initial parameters with the intervals of scatter of solutions. For dynamic systems, the desired proportionality is not always ensured. The given examples demonstrate the acceptable accuracy of interval estimation of evolutionary processes. It is important to note that the constructions of the estimating equations generate vanishing intervals of scatter of solutions for quasi-constant temperature perturbations of the system. In other words, the trajectories of stationary temperature states of the vegetation cover are not roughened by the proposed interval estimation scheme. The rigor of the result of interval estimation of the species composition of the vegetation cover of formations can become a determining factor when choosing a method in the problems of analyzing the dynamics of species diversity and the plant potential of territorial systems of resource-ecological monitoring. The possibilities of the proposed approach are illustrated by geoinformation images of the computational analysis of the dynamics of the vegetation cover of the Yamal Peninsula and by the graphs of the retro-perspective analysis of the floristic variability of the formations of the landscapelithological group “Upper” based on the data of the summer temperature background of the Salehard weather station from 2010 to 1935. The developed indicators of floristic variability and the given graphs characterize the dynamics of species diversity, both on average and individually in the form of intervals of possible states for each species of plant.