We present here a number of processes, inspired by concepts in Nonlinear
Dynamics such as chaotic advection and excitability, that can be useful to
understand generic behaviors in chemical or biological systems in fluid flows.
Emphasis is put on the description of observed plankton patchiness in the sea.
The linearly decaying tracer, and excitable kinetics in a chaotic flow are
mainly the models described. Finally, some warnings are given about the
difficulties in modeling discrete individuals (such as planktonic organisms) in
terms of continuous concentration fields.Comment: 41 pages, 10 figures; To appear in the Proceedings of the 2001 ISSAOS
School on 'Chaos in Geophysical Flows
