Growth of single phytoplankton species with internal storage in a water Column

In this paper, we analyze a system modeling the growth of single phytoplankton populations in a water column, where population growth increases monotonically with the nutrient quota stored within individuals. We establish a threshold result on the global extinction and persistence of phytoplankton. Condition for persistence is shown to depend on the principal eigenvalue of a boundary value problem, which is related to the physical transport properties of the water column (i.e. The diffusivity and the sinking speed), nutrient uptake rate, and growth rate.