A Spatially-Explicit Framework for Investigating Patchiness in Aquatic Ecosystems

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dc.contributor.advisorGardner, Roberten_US
dc.contributor.authorScheurer, David Scheureren_US
dc.contributor.departmentMarine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciencesen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2006-09-12T05:52:13Z
dc.date.available2006-09-12T05:52:13Z
dc.date.issued2006-07-31en_US
dc.description.abstractAquatic ecosystems display complex spatially-varying patterns of growth and decay. These patterns are produced by the interaction of numerous physical and biological processes that result in characteristic scales of patchiness with important ecological consequences. Although these interactions and processes have been studied extensively, it is still unclear under what conditions and to what degree one process dominates the other and how the dynamics change across scales. This dissertation uses a spatial modeling approach to examine how processes and patterns translate across spatial and temporal scales and how the spatial distribution of resources in turn, influences these processes and patterns. This is accomplished through the development of a novel spatially-explicit simulation framework which utilizes 1) a nutrient-phytoplankton-zooplankton-detritus (NPZD) ecosystem model; 2) realistic physical exchanges between individual model cells; 3) spatially varying forcing functions and 4) robust pattern analysis techniques, to produce a consistent and reliable method for extrapolating detailed, fine-grained dynamics to broad-scale patterns within aquatic environments. Application of the framework required the development of two novel components, an NPZD ecosystem model to simulate biological processes and a method to simulate turbulent mixing at fine and intermediate scales. Experiments testing the robustness of these components are presented along with results from simulations applying the framework to investigate species and ecosystem level response to spatial and temporal heterogeneity in nutrient forcing. Major results of the work and potential applications for investigating scale-dependent patterns in aquatic ecosystems are discussed.en_US
dc.format.extent3184605 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3835
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledBiology, Oceanographyen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledBiology, Ecologyen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledpatchinessen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledspatially-expliciten_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledNPZD modelen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledturbulent mixingen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrollednutrient heterogeneityen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledaquatic ecosystemen_US
dc.titleA Spatially-Explicit Framework for Investigating Patchiness in Aquatic Ecosystemsen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

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