Annual grassland ecosystem model.

Abstract

The general objective was to simulate the seasonal dynamics of biomass in the annual grassland on a daily basis. The components of the grassland ecosystem - weather factors, primary producers, decomposers, nutrients and mammalian consumers - are described in linked submodels. Process mechanisms in each of the submodels control flow rates of carbon (biomass), nutrients, and water through the simulated system. Driving variables are temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, wind speed and cloud cover. Specific model objectives included assessment of the effect of changes in weather factors, fertilization practices, seeding practices, and stocking level of livestock on forage production and botanical composition of a simulated site.-from Authors