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Four aquatic plant growth simulation models have been developed that can be used to evaluate plant biomass dynamics under various environmental and climatological conditions.
The models are based on the carbon flow through a monotypic vegetation in meter-squared (m2) water columns. The models are quasi two-dimensional, in that they take the plant architecture into consideration. The models can start up with or without plants present, as long as the wintering plant propagules are specified. The models include descriptions of several factors that affect biomass dynamics, such as changes in environmental and climatological conditions, and of biomass removal (harvesting by humans or grazing by animals). The models are provided with default values for plant parameters and environmental conditions. The models are easy to run, because they are packaged within a FORTRAN Simulation Environment (SSE) shell for easy and rapid display of model outputs. The models can be run for periods of 1-5 consecutive years. The models are PC-based and not spatially explicit. However, the models can be run for various cells of a spatial grid stored within a GIS, and the resulting model output can be visualized within the GIS, which enables the generation of spatial maps.
Instructions for users can be found in the four instruction reports.
To run the models for any given site, the user has to:
Effects of changes in environmental conditions addressed:
Effects of changes in climatological conditions addressed:
New developments:
Updated August 2011
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