EDYS Experimental and Validation Results for Grassland Communities
Abstract
Precipitation patterns, including the effects of long-term droughts or above average precipitation and the interactions with nitrogen availability, often have enough influence on plant growth that the effects of our use or management of land are not apparent. This is especially true because of the need to judge changes in land condition over periods of months to years. One of the primary information requirements identified by Army land managers and trainers is the need to be able to project the impacts of training and management strategies on the amount of plant cover protecting the soil. Managers also need to know how long it takes a plant community to recover to the desired plant cover level after use. The purpose of this research project was to test the ability of the Ecological Dynamics Simulation (EDYS) model to accurately project plant dynamics given a wide range of precipitation patterns and nitrogen availability over a period of years to decades. The results of this research show that EDYS did accurately simulate changes in plant cover over the 2-year research period and the patterns EDYS projects over 40-year simulations closely match the patterns seen on the ground in 40-year old research plots.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA396255
Entities
People
- Cade Coldren
- Davd L. Price
- Terry Mclendon
- W. M. Childress
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center