Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net 1023-5809 1607-7946 16 5 2009 10.5194/npg-16-623-2009 http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/16/623/2009/ http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/16/623/2009/npg-16-623-2009.html http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/16/623/2009/npg-16-623-2009.pdf 623 630 2009-10-30 Plankton bloom controlled by horizontal stirring W. McKiver william.mckiver@ucd.ie Z. Neufeld I. Scheuring School of Mathematical Sciences & Complex and Adaptive Systems Laboratory, University College Dublin, Ireland Institute of Biology, Department of Plant Taxonomy and Ecology, Research Group of Theoretical Biology and Ecology, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary Here we show a simple mechanism in which changes in the rate of horizontal stirring by mesoscale ocean eddies can trigger or suppress plankton blooms and can lead to an abrupt change in the average plankton density. 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