247 / 2024-02-28 16:06:49

A process-based biomass model of emergent aquatic vegetation with application to the typical wetland of Poyang Lake

biomass; emergent aquatic vegetation; Zengmizhou wetland; Poyang Lake

Emergent aquatic vegetation (EAV) is a common wetland plant and plays an important role in maintaining the stability and biodiversity of wetland ecosystems. The rational configuration of EAV is vital to fully exert its effect on wetlands. However, the EAV growth is influenced by a series of environmental factors, complicating its species selection and planting. To better analyze the response of EAV to environmental factors, a process-based model is proposed to simulate the EAV biomass variation. The process-based model includes the coupled two-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality module (HQ2D) and the EAV growth module. The former calculates the water depth and water quality variation which are used as part of inputs for the latter, while light intensity and temperature are the EAV growth module’s additional inputs. The EAV growth module can simulate the plant (aboveground) and root (underground) biomass variation with the aforementioned four environmental factors. The process-based model was applied to a typical wetland of Poyang Lake for a test. This model is well-calibrated using the measured data of three EAV communities (Carex Cinerascens, Miscanthus Lutarioriparius, and Artemisia Selengensis) from Zengmizhou wetland, located in the southwest of Poyang Lake. The calibrated model well simulates the growth and development processes of the EAV communities. Scenario simulations are further conducted to unravel the sensitivity of the three EAV communities to environmental factors. Overall, the results show that the process-based model proposed in this study can be an effective tool in evaluating the effects of wetland ecological restoration based on EAV.