Modeling the role of fish population in mitigating algal bloom

Algal blooms pose a significant threat to the ecological integrity and biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. In lakes, enriched with nutrients, these blooms result in overgrowth of periphyton, leading to biological clogging, oxygen depletion, and ultimately a decline in ecosystem's health and water quality. In this article, we presented a mathematical model centered around the role of aquatic species (specifically fish population) to alleviate algal blooms. The model analysis revealed significant shifts in dynamics, shedding light on the effectiveness of fish-mediated sustainability strategies to control algal proliferation. Notably, our study identified critical thresholds and regime transitions through the observation of saddle-node bifurcation within the proposed mathematical model. To validate our analytical findings, we have conducted numerical simulations, which provided robust evidence for the resilience of the ecosystem under different scenarios.