Biophysical Models And Applications In Ecosystem Analysis

"The past five decades have witnessed a rapid growth of computer models for simulating ecosystem functions and dynamics. This has been fueled by the availability of remote sensing data, computation capability, and cross-disciplinary sciences. These models contain many sub-modules for simulating different processes and forcing mechanisms, albeit it has become challenging to truly understand the details due to their complexity. Most ecosystem models, fortunately, are rooted in a few core biophysical foundations, such as widely recognized Farquhar's model, Ball-Berry-Leuning-Medlyn family models, Penman-Monteith model, Priestley-Taylor Model, Machaelis-Menten kinetics, and others. After an introduction of biophysical essentials, four chapters present the core algorithms and their behaviors in modeling ecosystem production, respiration, evapotranspiration, and global warming potentials"--

Biophysical models, such as Monteith, Prestley-Taylor, and Ball-Berry models, are widely applied in modern ecosystem studies and remote sensing modeling on carbon and water cycles. This monograph is the first comprehensive publication for ecosystem ecologists to grasp a suite of popular models and their applications in terrestrial ecosystem analysis. The text covers popular biophysical models and model comparisons on ecosystem production (GPP, NPP, and NEP), photosynthesis, respiration, evapotranspiration (ET), energy fluxes, and major trace gases. Each chapter includes a brief introduction of the theoretical foundation for modeling, a short description for each model, and synthetic comparisons of the models, and recommendations for model selection. Examples from case studies are also provided for the readers to understand the models and their uses.

Quantitative models are crucial to almost every area of ecosystem science. They provide a logical structure that guides and informs empirical observations of ecosystem processes. They play a particularly crucial role in synthesizing and integrating our understanding of the immense diversity of ecosystem structure and function. Increasingly, models are being called on to predict the effects of human actions on natural ecosystems. Despite the widespread use of models, there exists intense debate within the field over a wide range of practical and philosophical issues pertaining to quantitative modeling. This book--which grew out of a gathering of leading experts at the ninth Cary Conference--explores those issues. The book opens with an overview of the status and role of modeling in ecosystem science, including perspectives on the long-running debate over the appropriate level of complexity in models. This is followed by eight chapters that address the critical issue of evaluating ecosystem models, including methods of addressing uncertainty. Next come several case studies of the role of models in environmental policy and management. A section on the future of modeling in ecosystem science focuses on increasing the use of modeling in undergraduate education and the modeling skills of professionals within the field. The benefits and limitations of predictive (versus observational) models are also considered in detail. Written by stellar contributors, this book grants access to the state of the art and science of ecosystem modeling.

A symposium on biophysical ecology was held at The University of Michigan Biological Station on Douglas Lake August 20-24, 1973. Biophysical ecology is an approach to ecology which uses fundamental principles of physics and chemistry along with mathematics as a tool to understand the interactions between organisms and their environment. It is fundamentally a mechanistic approach to ecology, and as such, it is amenable to theoretical modeling. A theoretical model applied to an organism and its interactions with its environ ment should include all the significant environmental factors, organism properties, and the mechanisms that connect these things together in an appropriate organism response. The purpose of a theoretical model is to use it to explain observed facts and to make predictions beyond the realm of observation which can be verified or denied by further observation. If the predictions are confirmed, the model must be reasonably complete except for second or third-order refinements. If the pre dictions are denied by further observation, one must go back to the basic ideas that entered the model and decide what has been overlooked or even what has been included that perhaps should not have been. Theoretical modeling must always have recourse to experiment in the laboratory and observation in the field. For plants, a theoretical model might be formulated to explain the manner and magnitude by which various environmental factors affect leaf temperature.

Ecological modelling has developed rapidly in recent decades, with the focus primarily on the restoration of lakes and wetlands. Ecological Modelling and Engineering in Lakes and Wetlands presents the progress being made in modelling for a wealth of applications. It covers the older biogeochemical models still in use today, structurally dynamic models, 3D models, biophysical models, entire watershed models, and ecotoxicological models, as well as the expansion of modeling to the Arctic and Antarctic climate-zones. The book also addresses modelling the effect of climate change, including the development of ecological models for addressing storm water pond issues, which are increasingly important in urban regions where more concentrated rainfalls are a consequence of climate change. The ecological engineering topics covered in the book also emphasize the advancements being made in applying ecological engineering regimes for better environmental management of lakes and wetlands. Examines recent progress towards a better understanding of these two important ecosystems Presents new results and approaches that can be used to develop better models Discusses how to increase the synergistic effect between ecosystems engineering and modelling

The International Society for Ecological Modelling (ISEM) sponsors conferences, workshops and training courses with the aim of advancing the development of ecological and environmental modelling. The 3rd International Conference on the state-of-the-art in ecological modelling was sponsored by the ISEM in cooperation with the National Park Service Water Resources Laboratory and hosted by the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University. Its theme was the application of ecological modelling to environmental management and this book contains the full texts of the three invited papers presented in the five general sessions, plus the final summaries and syntheses of the topics covered during those sessions.

This book presents the fundamental theories, methodologies and case studies of marine ecosystem modeling with a special focus on marine ecological dynamics that could provide scientists and researchers with a stabile and reliabile technical framework to study marine life and their developments.This book also clarifies the research objective and model classification methods of marine ecosystem dynamics research and analyzes the key marine ecological processes that affect modeling. The technical framework for improving the performance of modeling is also proposed, and the latest progress in research, as well as existing difficulties and challenges in end-to-end dynamics models are reviewed and analyzed. A dimensionality reduction theorem is established and derived for analyzing the stability of the solutions of a class of self-conserving marine ecosystem dynamic models. Also included in this work are several new types of marine ecosystem dynamics models constructed by modern computing methods — including artificial neural networks, cellular automata, and statistical dynamics — and case studies.This book is a suitable reference for professional and technical personnel, managers and graduate students specializing in the evolution mechanism, simulation, predication and regulation of marine ecosystems.