Statistics of population dynamics in turbulence

Abstract

We study the statistical properties of population dynamics in 2d turbulent and compressible surface flows. We show that the compressible surface flow leads to a patchiness in the population density that resembles the patchiness of the Plankton population as observed from the satellite images of the ocean surface. The statistical properties of the population concentration are investigated and quantified for different growth rates, diffusivities and for different level of compressibility of the surface flow.