As the largest carbon emission country, China is struggling with the carbon outsourcing problem at inter-provincial and international scale. Identifying the role of each provincial region is helpful for mitigation adaptation policy by local government. Based on the Multi-Scale Input-Output model (MSIO), the characteristics of subnational carbon flow pattern embodied in domestic and international trade

The CAMPUS-S model was developed to simulate ground-layer vegetation populations in forest ecosystems and their contribution to carbon and nitrogen dynamics. The model uses several modeling techniques: matrix, l-systems and cellular automata modeling. The genetic species-specific features are defined for each ontogenetic stage (L-systems), while their implementation for certain individuals in the course

One of the most applied tools to create ecosystem models to support management decisions in the light of ecosystem-based fisheries management is Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE). Recently, its spatial routine Ecospace has evolved due to the addition of the Habitat Foraging Capacity Model (HFCM), a spatial-temporal dynamic niche model to drive the foraging capacity to distribute biomass over model grid cells

This paper investigates the impacts from natural gas development, hunting, and cattle grazing on a typical Western U.S. rangeland ecosystem using a general equilibrium model that describes ecosystem dynamics. The study area is located in the region surrounding the Atlantic Rim Natural Gas project in southern-central Wyoming and analyzes the population densities of various species, net hunting benefits

In this paper, we analyze the impact of data gaps in the context of ecotoxicology when parameterizing a species using a widely recognized theory, the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory. DEB-based models are used in many ecological domains, and have been recognized as particularly useful in ecotoxicology. However, available datasets are often insufficient to accurately estimate all model parameters

Species distribution models can be affected by overprediction when dispersal movement is not incorporated into the modelling process. We compared the efficiency of seven methods that take into account spatial constraints to reduce overprediction when using four algorithms for species distribution models. By using a virtual ecologist approach, we were able to measure the accuracy of each model in predicting

We investigated the establishment success of introduced populations from multiple introductions using an individual-based predator-prey ecosystem simulation called EcoSim. The experiment was a simulated reciprocal transplant over two environments (one with homogeneous and abundant resources, one with heterogeneous and fewer resources) with five levels of genetic diversity for inocula, ranging from

A model framework for national greenhouse gas emission and removal estimation for Canadian peatlands (CaMP v2.0) was developed and tested. It provides a module that can work alongside the upland forest Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM) developed to eventually replace the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3) as the core model in Canada's National Forest Carbon Monitoring, Accounting

Dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory provides a framework for quantifying metabolic processes and biological rates. DEB models have been widely applied to aquaculture species, but this type of model has great potential for application to fisheries for stock assessment and enhancement. The shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis, widely distributed along the coast of China and Korea, is the most important fisheries

The European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a slow growing and late maturing high value fish that is exploited by both commercial and recreational fisheries. In recent years, scientific assessments have shown a rapid decline in spawning stock biomass around the UK attributed to poor recruitment (driven by environmental factors) and high fishing mortality. This resulted in significant reductions

Potential woody cover of savanna ecosystems is highly relevant to their dynamics and management, especially with regard to the widespread phenomenon of woody plant encroachment. Prior studies suggest that water availability is the primary factor limiting potential woody cover. To this end, variations in future water availability due to climate change are likely to alter localized potential woody cover

Hybridization affects the evolution and conservation status of species and populations. Because the dynamics of hybridization is driven by reproduction and survival of parental and admixed individuals, demographic modelling is a valuable tool to assess the effects of hybridization on population viability, e.g., under different management scenarios. While matrix models have been used to assess the long-term

The elasticity of population growth rate λ is a notable statistic in population projection matrix models and has been used by many empirical researchers. Silvertown and his collaborators published a paper in 1996 in which they mapped elasticity vectors of stasis, growth and fecundity for 84 plant species in a ternary plot and reported that the elasticity vector distribution of semelparous species (10

To understand the biological process in an aquaculture dominant coastal system and to provide a tool for further aquaculture management, an ecosystem model has been implemented to study the aquaculture-environmental interaction and the carrying capacity for Sanggou Bay. The model coupled the pelagic system, kelp growth dynamics, oyster energetics, and population dynamics with hourly hydrodynamic and

This study presents an example of the parameterization and validation of the CAMPUS-S model for the dwarf shrubs of the genus Vaccinium, and the results of computational experiments showing the applicability of the model. A quantitative analysis of the population dynamics of dwarf shrubs, their productivity and contribution to the carbon and nitrogen cycling in forest ecosystems was carried out. The

Accurate estimation of grassland Net Primary Productivity (NPP) is one of the most important steps in monitoring and further analysing the status of the grassland ecosystem. However, the quality of regional or even global grassland NPP estimations are commonly limited by the two most important input datasets: Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR) and climatic data, which make the NPP estimate unrepresentative

COVID-19 pandemic is a global threat to human health and economy that requires urgent prevention and monitoring strategies. Several models are under study to control the disease spread and infection rate and to detect possible factors that might favour them, with a focus on understanding the correlation between the disease and specific geophysical parameters. However, the pandemic does not present

A species’ distribution across the landscape is not random, but it is affected by distribution, size, abundance and connectivity of landscape patches. This spatial configuration of the landscape shapes ecological processes, for example the location of home ranges, migration routes and migration ability. Landscape metrics describe the configuration of a landscape quantitatively. While traditional approaches

Grassland carrying capacity and the number of livestock and wildlife play important roles in maintaining the balance of the grassland ecosystem. In this study, we assessed the grassland-livestock balance between large wild herbivores and livestock. We used the sample line transect method to conduct a survey on population and habitat area of wildlife in Sanjiangyuan National Park, China, from 2016 to

Pre-fishing season (June and July) Pacific saury Cololabis saira occur offshore, east of Japan, before migrating west to nearshore waters where they are exploited by Japanese fishers in the autumn (September–November). To forecast the location of these fishing grounds we develop a migration model using oceanographic (temperature and current velocity) and fisheries (pre-fishing Pacific saury distribution

Parameterization is one of the most challenging steps in the construction of individual-based models, and it is particularly relevant for the case of Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory given that DEB parameters are mapped to a multimodal fitness landscape. This multimodal fitness landscape could correspond to parameterizations that provide the right outcome for the wrong reasons. Given the lack of

Network analysis is an indispensable part of ecological studies. Specifically, networks have played a pivotal role in studying the diversity, dynamics and functionality of pollination systems. Recording plant-pollinator interaction networks is a laborious task, prone to missing or false negative interactions. Several methods enable the assessment of sampling completeness of the network with the use

Tropical forests are a critical component of the Earth system, storing half of the global forest carbon stocks and accounting for a third of terrestrial photosynthesis. Lianas are structural parasites that can substantially reduce the carbon sequestration capacity of these forests. Simulations of this peculiar growth form have only recently started and a single vegetation model included lianas so far

Group living is of benefit to foraging individuals by improving their survival, through passive risk dilution by sheer numbers and through increasingly more active processes, ranging from cue transmission to alarm calling. Cue transmission of information within a group cannot easily be tracked in the field, but can be studied by modelling. An unintentional visual cue can be given by a fleeing action

It has been nearly a half-century long since the recognition of Archaea as one of the three kingdoms in the tree of life, but the comparative studies on their ecological adaptations with bacteria in the hot spring environment have been relatively few. We present the first few network analyses of the hot-spring microbiome with 165 hot-spring microbiome samples taken globally by Sharp et al (2014) (with

There is growing interest in using mechanistic ecosystem models for ecosystem-based management, as they have the advantage of capturing both bottom-up and top-down processes as well as system interactions from food web structure, spatial constraints, and human activities. However, they have the disadvantage of requiring many parameters, many of which are unknown and must be estimated or calibrated

Aquaculture is an industry with the capacity for further growth that can contribute to sustainable food systems to feed an increasing global population. Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) is of particular interest for farmers as a fast-growing species that benefits ecosystems as a primary producer. However, as a new industry in the U.S., farmers interested in growing S. latissima lack data on growth

Studying the influence of changing environmental conditions on Antarctic marine benthic invertebrates is strongly constrained by limited access to the region, which poses difficulties to performing long-term experimental studies. Ecological modelling has been increasingly used as a potential alternative to assess the impact of such changes on species distribution or physiological performance. Among

Understanding potential effects of climate warming on biogeochemical cycling in freshwater ecosystems is of pressing importance. Specifically, increasing air and water temperatures could accelerate nutrient cycling in lakes, which has major implications for in-lake nutrient concentrations, water column nutrient stoichiometry, and downstream nutrient export. Lakes may respond differentially to warming

The objective recognition and scientific evaluation of ecosystem values are essential for sustainable decision-making and nature conservation. However, the ecosystem services value, which is the most popular concept, measures ecosystem value mainly through an estimation of the “willingness-to-pay” of individuals and thus can cause a bias in estimating ecosystem value. The ecosystem intrinsic value

Phosphorus (P) loading to lakes is degrading the quality and usability of water globally. Accurate predictions of lake P dynamics are needed to understand whole-ecosystem P budgets, as well as the consequences of changing lake P concentrations for water quality. However, complex biophysical processes within lakes, along with limited observational data, challenge our capacity to reproduce short-term

Resting life stages (e.g. dormant seeds and resting eggs) have important implications for ecological and evolutionary processes. In this study, we simulated the impact of different environmental scenarios on the dynamics of resting eggs that make up an “egg bank” of a common fresh water ostracod, Heterocypris incongruens (Crustacea). Our goal was to investigate how the persistence and the wind-mediated

Calibration is essential to reduce the uncertainty caused by model parameters in applying multiple models’ ensemble. However, the method to consistently calibrate multiple crop models is still lack to date. With the three widely used crop models - CERES, CROPSIM, and NWheat - embedded in the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) v.4.7, this study develops a calibration method

Meiofauna are known to have an important role on many ecological processes, although, their role in food web dynamics is often poorly understood, partially as they have been an overlooked and under sampled organism group. Here, we used quantitative food web modeling to evaluate the trophic relationship between meiofauna and their food sources and how meiofauna can mediate the carbon flow to higher

The purpose of the study was to develop, calibrate and validate a comprehensive phenological model for the spatiotemporal simulation of the seasonal development of the six-toothed spruce bark beetle, Pityogenes chalcographus (CHAPY). The validation dataset was acquired through monitoring of the bark beetle's phenology at eight sites in Slovenia in 2017 and 2018, along with air and bark temperature

Understanding interactions between individual animals and their resources is fundamental to ecology. Agent-Based Models (ABMs) offer an opportunity to study how individuals move given the spatial distribution and characteristics of their resources. When contrasted with empirical individual-resource network data, ABMs can be a powerful method to detect the processes behind observed movement patterns

The abundance or yield of a species is an ecological quantity of paramount importance when making management and conservation decisions. The linear generalized Lotka–Volterra equations (LGLVE) constitute the simplest theoretical framework for predicting such yields. However, in many ecological communities (e.g. tropical forests), the number of coexisting species S can be very large and estimating the

Conservation-motivated eradications may cause unexpected perverse effects, and these undesirable consequences can be difficult to predict due to the paucity of information on species interactions. A probabilistic qualitative approach, which does not require extensive model parameterization, is becoming increasingly accepted and applied to conservation scenarios when information is limited. However

The expansion of the aquaculture industry in the last several decades has raised concerns about potential ecological impacts of the industry. Bivalve culture, particularly mussel farming, relies on naturally occurring plankton and numerous studies have demonstrated top-down control on phytoplankton, increased nutrients through excretion of metabolic wastes and remineralization of faeces and pseudofaeces

A numerical coupling of a dynamic biogeochemical model (B-WITCH) and a model of forest balance water (BILJOU) was used to simulate the concentration of major species within soil profiles from two contrasted ecosystems: beech and spruce stands located in the Vosges Mountains and their evolution during decades. This coupled modelling allows an important vertical discretization of water and cation cycle

We compare parameter point and interval estimates based on the symmetric bounded loss function, as used in the Add-my-Pet collection on animal energetics, with the maximum likelihood method for number of surviving individuals as function of time. The aging module of Dynamic Energy Budget theory is used to generate Monte Carlo data sets. The simulations show that estimates based on the symmetric loss

G. E. Hutchinson raised the paradox of how a number of phytoplankton species competing for the same resources are able to coexist in a relatively isotropic environment. As a key for solving the paradox, we focused on the limiting similarity which prohibits the coexistence of similar species. We expected that the limiting similarity will be mitigated by some factors which are not represented in traditional

The rapid process of land use and cover changes can be regarded as the most crucial human-induced factor, which is responsible for the wildlife habitats destruction. While focusing on habitat features of the keystone species with broad habitat requirements, it will be possible to provide nature conservation priority maps under different scenarios of landuse and land cover change for the future. In

Knowledge about the interactions among multiple ecosystem services is crucial for the design of land-use strategies that optimize their delivery. A systematic review of the literature available from 2005 to 2019 was performed to assess the current state of knowledge on this topic. The number of scientific papers on interactions among multiple ecosystem services (trade-offs, synergies, bundles/clusters

In this model, we considered the population density effect based on the evolutionary maintainable strategy (EMS) for optimal sex ratio strategy analysis, instead of the evolutionary stable strategy (ESS) under the population equilibrium. We used a cellular automaton model to simulate population dynamics using the birth-death process to monitor the effect of space structure on the optimal sex ratio

We propose an extension of a parameter-free loss function for the estimation of Dynamic Energy Budget parameters for a set of related species that is symmetric in the role of data and predictions. The extension allows that particular parameters might vary, but not by much, among species, while the degree of variation is controlled by weight coefficients. We discuss the choice of these coefficients

The energy consumed by regions in China may have a huge gap after considering “embodied” energy due to interregional trade, and therefore impact the proposal of energy conservation. The aim of this research is to differentiate the effects from direct and indirect flows, which comprise embodied energy consumption, at provincial and sectoral scales through introducing the theory of interdependence of