Adventures in holistic ecosystem modelling: the cumberland basin ecosystem model |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Medical Scientist Training Program and Program in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA;2. Section of Infectious Disease, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA;3. Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA;4. Program in Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA;5. Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA;6. Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center and Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA;7. Department of Systems Biology and Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland;8. Department of Statistics, Rice University, Houston, TX 77030, USA;1. Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID 83415, USA;2. Department of Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA;1. Computational Frameworks Department, Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83404, USA;2. Nuclear Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA;3. Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94708, USA |
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| Abstract: | A holistic ecosystem model has been developed for the Cumberland Basin, a turbid macrotidal estuary at the head of Canada's Bay of Fundy. The model was constructed as a group exercise involving several dozen scientists. Philosophy of approach and methods were patterned after the BOEDE Ems-Dollard modelling project. The model is one-dimensional, has 3 compartments and 3 boundaries, and is composed of 3 separate submodels (physical, pelagic and benthic). The 28 biological state variables cover the complete estuarine ecosystem and represent broad functional groups of organisms based on trophic relationships. Although still under development and not yet validated, the model has been verified and has reached the stage where most state variables provide reasonable output. The modelling process has stimulated interdisciplinary discussion, identified important data gaps and produced a quantitative tool which can be used to examine ecological hypotheses and determine critical environmental processes. As a result, Canadian scientists have a much better understanding of the Cumberland Basin ecosystem and are better able to provide competent advice on environmental management. |
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