Scheme of the mechanism responsible for the phytoplankton dynamics (modified from original figure by Alexey Ryabov).

<p>Inset: (a) Prochlorococcus PCC 9511 (courtesy of Rippka et al., 2000 (Ref. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0066765#pone.0066765-Rippka1" target="_blank">[99]</a>)), (b) Micromonas NOUM17 (courtesy of Augustin Engman, Rory Welsh, and Alexandra Worden). (Color online).</p

Profiles of <i>chl a</i> concentration measured in sites L1129b (panel a) and L1105 (panel b).

<p>The black lines have been obtained by connecting the experimental points corresponding to samples distanced of 1 meter along the water column. The total number of samples measured in the two sites is for L1129b, and for L1105. (Courtesy of Denaro et al., 2013 (Ref. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0066765#pone.0066765-Denaro1" target="_blank">[28]</a>)).</p

Parameters used in the model.

<p>Parameters used in the model.</p

Mean vertical profile of <i>chl a</i> per picoeukaryote cell (panel a) and <i>Dvchl a</i> per Prochlorococcus cell (panel b).

<p>Error bars are Standard Deviation. Equation and for the fit are reported on the plots. (Courtesy of Brunet et al., 2007 (Ref. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0066765#pone.0066765-Brunet2" target="_blank">[51]</a>)).</p

Magnitude, depth, and width of the DCM as a function of obtained from the model.

<p>The values were obtained in stationary regime for site L1129b (panels a, b, c) and site L1105 (panels d, e, f).</p

Stationary distributions of picoeukaryotes and Prochlorococcus biomass concentrations and light intensity: site L1129b (panels a, b, c) and site L1105 (panels d, e, f) as a function of depth.

<p>Stationary distributions of picoeukaryotes and Prochlorococcus biomass concentrations and light intensity: site L1129b (panels a, b, c) and site L1105 (panels d, e, f) as a function of depth.</p

Theoretical distributions (red line) of the total <i>chl a</i> and <i>Dvchl a</i> concentration in stationary conditions.

<p>The profiles, obtained by the deterministic model and given as a function of the depth, are compared with experimental distributions (green line) sampled in sites L1129b (panel a) and L1105 (panel b). (Color online).</p