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Simulating Eutrophication Effects In Puget Sound Using Qualitative Network Models, Christopher James Harvey, Kathryn Sobocinski

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Ecosystems are complex, dynamic networks of interacting physical, chemical, biological and social components. A stressor such as eutrophication thus can cause responses throughout the system via direct and indirect pathways and feedbacks. Ecosystem models are typically designed to account for as many critical components, functions and pathways as possible in order to reasonably simulate how a system may respond to a stressor; however, many aspects of ecosystem structure and function are poorly studied and too data-poor to represent in a quantitative, mechanistic model. Qualitative network models (QNMs) assume comparably simple (i.e., positive or negative) relationships between interacting components, and allow …