Assessing the structural adequacy of alternative ecohydrological models using a pattern-oriented approach

S. Arnold, S. Attinger, K. Frank and A. Hildebrandt

Ecological Modelling, 2015, vol. 316, issue C, 52-61

Abstract: The development of environmental system models is challenging because of different disciplinary philosophical approaches to uncertainty in modelling of the terrestrial hydrosphere and ecosphere. We use pattern-oriented modelling to assess model structural adequacy and to select alternative model structures within the hierarchy of a model of flood-groundwater–vegetation interactions. We varied the equation structure of two key model components, flood tolerance and seasonal leaf shedding, and tested how well the model structures reproduced a set of observed patterns: (i) three species coexistence, (ii) species-specific access to groundwater, and (iii) species-specific ability to tolerate flood disturbances. We assessed (a) the role of flood frequency in biomass regulation for modelling of three coexisting species sharing the same water resources, and (b) the effect of alternative process and equation structures on the deviation of hydrological variables (transpiration, groundwater table) from average conditions.

Keywords: Pattern-oriented modelling (POM); Species coexistence; Groundwater-dependent ecosystem; Ecohydrology; Model structural adequacy; Kuiseb River (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:316:y:2015:i:c:p:52-61

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.08.003

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