About the Eelgrass Plant Model

The second level of simulation modeling was done to examine eelgrass at the plant level. A model was developed to simulate the growth of an entire eelgrass plant, incorporating the production of leaf tissue through photosynthesis, the transport of the carbohydrate photosynthetic products to the leaf/root-rhizome meristem. Furthermore, this model made an overall calculation of both shoot and root-rhizome production. This model, a simulation based on photosynthesis vs. irradiance (P/I) curves and rates of carbohydrate production and translocation, utilized basic equations presented in Short (1980). Model simulations demonstrate that the eelgrass shoot production model, based on literature P/I curves, when used to simulate whole plant growth response to both light and nutrients, is successful in reproducing the mesocosm results. The ability of the model to simulate the timing and pattern of annual eelgrass leaf length at both full light and reduced light conditions provides confidence in the formulation of our model construct. The plant physiology model and the results of the experimental simulations were incorporated into a manuscript for publication (Behm and Boumans 2002).