Modular ecosystem modeling

Abstract

The Library of Hydro-Ecological Modules (LHEM, http://giee.uvm.edu/LHEM) was designed to create flexible landscape model structures that can be easily modified and extended to suit the requirements of a variety of goals and case studies. The LHEM includes modules that simulate hydrologic processes, nutrient cycling, vegetation growth, decomposition, and other processes, both locally and spatially. Where possible the modules are formulated as STELLA® models, which adds to transparency and helps reuse. Spatial transport processes are presented as C++ code. The modular approach takes advantage of the spatial modeling environment (http://giee.uvm.edu/SME3) that allows integration of various STELLA models and C++ user code, and embeds local simulation models into a spatial context. Using the LHEM/SME the Patuxent landscape model (PLM) was built to simulate fundamental ecological processes in the watershed scale driven by temporal (nutrient loadings, climatic conditions) and spatial (land use patterns) forcings. Local ecosystem dynamics were replicated across a grid of cells that compose the rasterized landscape. Different habitats and land use types translate into different modules and parameter sets. Spatial hydrologic modules link the cells together. These are also part of the LHEM and define horizontal fluxes of material and information. This approach provides additional flexibility in scaling up and down over a range of spatial resolutions. Model results show good agreement with data for several components of the model at several scales. Other applications include several subwatersheds of the Patuxent, the Gwynns Falls watershed in Baltimore, and others.