Coexistence of competing species with flocculation in an unstirred chemostat

In this paper, an analysis is given of a mathematical model of two competing species feeding on one single resource growing in the chemostat, and the more superior species can flocculate. We firstly establish the existence and uniqueness of the positive solution to the single-species model with flocculation. In the case that the superior species flocculates, by degree theory the existence of positive steady-state solution is established. It turns out that for small attachment, all species may coexist.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This paper provides an analysis of a mathematical model for two competing species in a chemostat, where they feed on a single resource and the dominant species can flocculate. The existence and uniqueness of positive solutions to the single-species model with flocculation are established. Furthermore, the study shows that when the superior species flocculates, there can be coexistence of all species for small attachment.