1. General Model Information
Name: Barataria-Terrebonne Ecosystem Landscape Spatial Simulation
Acronym: BTELSS
Main medium: aquatic+terrstrial
Main subject: Habitat succession, other
Organization level: Landscape, Ecosystem
Type of model: partial differential equations (finite differences)
Main application: research, decision support/expert system
Keywords: Barataria Basin (Louisiana, USA), deltaic habitats, response to multiple impacts, spatial modeling, Terrebonne Basin (Louisiana, USA), watersheds
Contact:
Enrique Reyes
Coastal Ecology Institute, LSU,
South Stadium Rd.,
Baton Rouge, LA 70803,
USA
Phone:
Fax:
email: ereyes@lsu.edu
Homepage: http://its2.ocs.lsu.edu/guests/wwwcei/staff/enrique.html
Author(s):
Enrique Reyes, Mary L. White, Jay F. Martin, G. Paul Kemp, John W. Day, and Vibhas Aravamuthan
Abstract:
A landscape model was developed to investigate and predict the environmental factors
affecting wetland habitat change within the Barataria and Terrebonne basins of coastal
Louisiana for a 30-year time scale. The model linked an overland flooding hydrodynamic
module, using cells of 100 km2 in size and operating at a 1 hour time-step, and a
spatially articulated ecosystem module, resolving habitat type and change for 1 km2 cells
in daily time steps. Integration across different temporal and spatial scales was
accomplished with interpolation routines and averaging algorithms. Forcing functions
included dominant regional processes, such as subsidence, sedimentation and sea-level
rise. Hydrologic functions were calibrated against existing climate and hydrologic
time-series, while habitat information was compared to maps prepared by the United States
Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) for 1978 and 1988.
Spatial calibration was done by initializing the landscape pattern of the model to a 1978
USFWS habitat map. After a 10-year simulation, the results were compared against a 1988
USFWS habitat map. Simulated maps had an accuracy of 85 to 90 (out of a maximum of 100),
based on a multiple resolution fit algorithm. For validation, the model was initialized
with a 1956 USFWS habitat map and the results from a 32-year simulation were compared to
the 1988 USFWS habitat map. The landscape model produced reasonable regional agreement,
despite the fact that small-scale processes and features were not included. The
validation runs produced land loss rates that matched historical trends with an accuracy
fit above 75.
The model simulated 30 years into the future, starting in 1988, testing for long-term
climate variability under diverse scenarios. Results indicated that weather variability
impacts land loss rates more than replication of extreme weather years. Even when extreme
dry and wet years were repeated, the model predicted lower land loss when compared to
historical records. This is indicative of the ability of the simulated plant communities
to adapt to repetitive climatic forcing functions. Yearly maps for the calibration and
scenario runs can be seen as color animations on the web site:
www.lsu.edu/guests/wwwcei.
II. Technical Information
II.1 Executables:
Operating System(s): UNIX
II.2 Source-code:
Programming Language(s): FORTRAN
II.3 Manuals:
II.4 Data:
III. Mathematical Information
III.1 Mathematics
III.2 Quantities
III.2.1 Input
III.2.2 Output
IV. References
V. Further information in the World-Wide-Web
VI. Additional remarks
Last review of this document by:
Status of the document: Contributed by Enrique Reyes , Mon Jul 31 17:54:19 2000
last modified by
Tobias Gabele Wed Aug 21 21:44:40 CEST 2002