|
The decay component of the conceptual ecological model. |
Image: Simon Grove |
|
Project summary:
The Warra Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site has been established to facilitate research into the ecology and sustainable management of Tasmania’s wet eucalypt forests and adjacent ecosystems. To date, there has been no overt process for commissioning appropriate research projects within this overall theme, nor for assessing the merits of submitted research proposals.
In an attempt to put research at Warra on a firmer scientific footing, and to facilitate the identification of research gaps, a conceptual ecological model of the main systems at Warra has been constructed. The model is process-based, with key processes or events linking the major products or pools in the system.
Measurable parameters or attributes relating to these processes and products are identified in the model. The model comprises four linked modules: growth, decay, soils and aquatic. It has yet to be published. It is recognised that this is but one approach to model construction, but is one which is likely to be informative to the research that is required to address management issues in and around Tasmania’s wet eucalypt forests. Constructive feedback on the model’s design will be incorporated into later versions.
Methodology: Model design
There is a near-infinite number of ways in which a natural system can be represented conceptually. The approach taken here was to develop a process-based model to try to best represent the flows of energy and nutrients through the system and their relationships with biological and non-biological products or pools. It was expected that the model would reflect the main functional attributes of the ecosystem, and so identify their measurable parameters which could be the target of future research effort. Models of this nature are fractal, which means the more closely they are scrutinised, the more sub-systems appear that could be given a similar level of modelling attention. Furthermore, there is also a vast number of parameters which could be measured, with varying levels of information content. In the model presented here, only some of the major processes are modelled, along with the main ecosystem products, attributes and more informative measurable parameters.
Even at this relatively superficial level, the model is too complex to be represented in its entirety on a single piece of paper. Instead, it is divided into four interconnected modules. These broadly cover ‘growth’ (focussing on living vegetation and associated processes), ‘decay’ (focussing on the death and decomposition of vegetation), ‘soils’ (including litter and aspects of geology) and ‘aquatic’ (including aspects of geology and catchment hydrology). Each is considered separately but includes embedded linkages to other modules at appropriate places. It is recognised that this is but one of many possible means of division. Nevertheless, it is one that more or less matches some of the main research disciplines in ecology and related areas as they apply to Warra.
Datasets: None available.
Publications: Grove, S.J. (2004). Ecological research coverage at the Warra LTER site, Tasmania: a gap analysis based on a conceptual ecological model. Tasforests 15: 43-54.
|
