A trophodynamic model for the lagoon of Fogliano (Italy) with ecological dependent modifying parameters

• Published in: Ecological modelling Vol. 134; no. 2; pp. 153 - 167
• Main Authors: Hull, Vincent, Mocenni, Chiara, Falcucci, Margherita, Marchettini, Nadia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 30.10.2000; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Brackish water ecosystems; Coastal lagoons; Ecological model; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects. Techniques; Italy; Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...); Plankton ecology; Synecology; Trophodynamics; Italy; Europe; MED, Italy; Coastal lagoons; Plankton ecology; Trophodynamics; Ecological model; Brackish water environment; Organic matter; Oxygen; Temperature; Environmental factor; Coastal lagoon; Food web; Bacteria; Nutrient; Phytoplankton; Simulation model; Dynamic model; Solar radiation; Zooplankton
• ISSN: 0304-3800; 1872-7026
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3800(00)00358-6

A mathematical model for trophic and detrital dynamics of an Italian coastal lagoon is described, dominant importance is given to the ecological structure of the system. Three biotic components (phytoplankton producers, zooplankton consumers and bacterial pool decomposers) and three abiotic (nutrients, oxygen and organic matter) are considered. Temperature, solar radiation and wind are the environmental forcing functions acting on a seasonal and daily variation basis. Threshold functions are used to change parameter values of the model in the occurrence of notable ecological modifying processes in order to capture the effectiveness on the biotic variables. Simulations show the capability of the model to coherently describe qualitatively the ecological complexity and self-organizing evolution structure of the considered ecological system, but also show a convincing performance in relation to field observations and denoting the importance for considering dynamic parameters in ecological models.