Blue-Greens and Their Toxins
(Dynamical model of cyanobacteria population development in a lake)
Dr. Alexander Belov
Visiting Assistant Professor
Dept. of Mathematical Sciences
The University of Montana
Cyanobacteria .(blue-green algae) are the oldest inhabitants on the Earth. These procaryotes can change their buoyancy depending on solar irradiation, and adjust their position to the optimal phototrophic regime.
Blue-green algae may release toxins in water, some of the toxins being more toxic than the cobra toxin. If exposed to the optimal conditions, cells grow rapidly and usually lose their vertical stability in a water column. As a result of such catastrophic behavior, blue-greens form the dense bloom which follows the surface scum that ends the cycle of population development.
The system of non-linear differential and integral-differential equations is proposed to describe this phenomenon. Mathematical analysis of this set of equations was performed, and the particular analytical solutions are found.
Thursday, February 19, 1998
4:10 p.m. in MA 109
Coffee/Tea/Treats 3:30 p.m. in MA 104 (Lounge)
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