Paradox of the plankton

In aquatic biology, the paradox of the plankton describes the situation in which a limited range of resources supports an unexpectedly wide range of plankton species, apparently flouting the competitive exclusion principle, which holds that when two species compete for the same resource, one will be driven to extinction.

Coexistence between two such species is impossible because the dominant one will inevitably deplete the shared resources, thus decimating the inferior population.

[3] Phytoplankton life is diverse at all phylogenetic levels despite the limited range of resources (e.g. light, nitrate, phosphate, silicic acid, iron) for which they compete amongst themselves.

[10] In general, researchers suggest that ecological and environmental factors continually interact such that the planktonic habitat never reaches an equilibrium for which a single species is favoured.

Long term control results, as the virus prevents the formerly dominant species from booming during future bloom events.

Marine diatoms are among the many planktonic organisms that paradoxically appear to flout the competitive exclusion principle .
In the lytic cycle, viruses reproduce in host cells to manufacture more viruses; the viruses then burst out of the cell.