ABSTRACT
CLEANER, an ecosystem model based on the International Biological Program model CLEAN, has a number of characteristics useful to environmental management. It represents functional physiologic and ecologic relationships for major compartments of the ecosystem, with disaggregation of trophic levels appropriate for studying competition among dissimilar forms. It exhibits good calibration and has few data requirements, facilitating transferability. It is programmed for use in interactive mode from remote terminals, with user-oriented output – including transformation of biomass values to turbidity, scum, and taste and odor indicators. It is currently implemented as a one-dimensional model without physical mixing terms, but it can be coupled with existing hydrodynamic models.
As a research tool CLEANER can be used to test hypotheses concerning complex ecosystem linkages and to guide data collection. As a management tool it can be used to provide scenarios and to extract bivariate relationships between pollutants and ecosystem effects. The model can be used by citizen groups as an educational tool, by advisory groups as a means of examining environmental trade-offs, and by regulatory agencies as a means of determining sensitivities and evaluating environmental impacts. CLEANER will eventually be coupled with adjunct models that predict nutrient loadings and tourist response, permitting simulation of long-range environmental, social and economic impacts.
