ABSTRACT
We have developed a spatial modeling workstation, consisting of hardware and software tools to allow development, implementation and testing of spatial ecosystem models in a desktop environment. In this paper we report on the modeling workstation development and subsequent application to the wetlands of southern Louisiana.
The modeling workstation utilizes output from a geographic information system (GIS) for managing spatial data and a general dynamic simulation language for developing unit models to produce ecological simulations framed in a spatial format. The model computer code utilizes parallel processors resident in a desktop microcomputer (Macintosh™). Time series maps of the state variables and the predicted wetland habitat that are generated from model simulations are readable by the GIS system for further display, analysis, and animation.
Using this workstation we have simulated the habitat changes, in numbers of hectares, that are predicted to occur in a wetland during the next fifty years due to the introduction of fresh Mississippi River water and associated sediment. By variously adjusting the volumes and timing of fresh water in the simulation, an optimum management strategy to enhance fisheries and preserve subsiding wetlands can be devised.
