Agroecosystem Models

Authors: Hatfield, Jerry; DOLD, CHRISTIAN - Orise Fellow; Kistner-Thomas, Erica; WACHA, KENNETH - Orise Fellow

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/25/2019
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Agroecosystems are complex representations of the interactions occurring among multiple biological systems at the field and landscape scale. The development of models capable of simulating these interactions is not very mature and if we assemble our knowledge on crop, pest, and soils models, we can begin to develop a framework for how we should begin to look at agroecological models at a larger spatial and temporal scale. Within the crops, soils, and pest disciplines there has been substantial progress on the development of simulation models; however, the integration among these models to assess the interactions among these disciplines to go from a soil within a field to a landscape and then evaluate the potential impact of different management practices or climate scenarios is lacking. Our challenge will be to begin to develop models and experiments capable of addressing how ecosystem services are linked to how systems are placed on the landscape and how these systems respond to different management practices. If we begin to consider that agroecology represents reality in terms of how we should be considering how future agricultural systems could be providing multiple benefits, then we will begin to understand how we need to embrace spatial and temporal dynamics that define agricultural systems.