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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #374120
Research Project: Resilient Management Systems and Decision Support Tools to Optimize Agricultural Production and Watershed Responses from Field to National Scale

Location: Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory

Title: Advances in application of a process-based crop model to wetland plants and ecosystems

Author
item Williams, Amber
item KIM, SUMIN - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Kiniry, James

Submitted to: Wetlands
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/2020
Publication Date: 2/8/2021
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/7268194
Citation: Williams, A.S., Kim, S., Kiniry, J.R. 2021. Advances in application of a process-based crop model to wetland plants and ecosystems. Wetlands. 41. Article 18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-021-01416-7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-021-01416-7

Interpretive Summary: Crop models are well tested for simulating plant growth with environmental interactions. Scientists are using crop models from the Temple group (ALMANAC, APEX) to simulate wetland plant growth from the field to landscape scale. This is applied to wetlands, wetland and cropland interactions, and in whole landscape simulations.

Technical Abstract: For decades crop models have been proven to help agronomists simulate plant growth interactions in the environment, for instance with soil, water, and nutrients. Now scientists are turning their attention to agronomic interactions with ecosystems, specifically wetlands. Wetlands are an integral part of the landscape both as a habitat, and as a buffer between agricultural areas and large watersheds. Process-based simulation models such as APEX, and ALMANAC are used for crops, but have now been applied to wetlands. These models simulate vegetation growth, plant competition, nutrient cycling, erosion, and hydrology. Recent research has allowed wetland plant growth to be simulated, and more complex modeling of the landscape has begun. Here we summarize advances in wetland plant simulation using crop modeling and application of these process-based crop models to wetland plants and ecosystems.