A multiplicative and a semi-mechanistic, BWB-type [Ball, J.T., Woodrow, I.E., Berry, J.A., 1987. A model predicting stomatal conductance and its contribution to the control of photosynthesis under different environmental conditions. In: Biggens, J. (Ed.), Progress in Photosynthesis Research, vol. IV. Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht, pp. 221-224.] algorithm for calculating stomatal conductance (g(s)...

Regional modelling of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics is important for predicting large-scale patterns in carbon cycling and for assessing potential responses of soil carbon pools to land-use change. However, data uncertainties related to both spatial heterogeneity and small-scale differences in farming practice related to cropping systems affect the accuracy of regional models. A case study...

Crop models are being increasingly used in agricultural and environmental studies of marginal environments where water availability limits crop growth. The PNUTGRO model (a precursor of CROPGRO and CSM) has systematically underestimated rainfed pod yield and aboveground biomass, while accurately predicting the same variables under irrigation, in the frequently drought-stricken Argentine peanut-...

The environmental fates of pharmaceuticals and the effects of crop protection products on non-target species are subjects that are undergoing intense review. Since measuring the concentrations and effects of xenobiotics on all affected species under all conceivable scenarios is not feasible, standard laboratory animals such as rabbits are tested, and the observed adverse effects are translated ...

Sensitivity analysis studies how the variation in model outputs can be due to different sources of variation. This issue is addressed, in this study, as an applicationof sensitivity analysis techniques to a cropmodel in the Mediterranean region. In particular, an application of Morris and Sobol’ sensitivity analysis methods to the ricemodelWARM is presented. The output considered is aboveground...

A comprehensive assessment of the impacts of climate change on agro-ecosystems over this century is developed, up to 2080 and at a global level, albeit with significant regional detail. To this end an integrated ecological-economic modelling framework is employed, encompassing climate scenarios, agro-ecological zoning information, socio-economic drivers, as well as world food trade dynamics. Sp...

Sustainable farming systems that maintain the diversity of arable plant communities and associated invertebrates are a key objective for European agriculture. Plant structure–function analysis and modelling are potentially important tools for studying these arable communities, and for understanding the impact of crop–weed interactions on crop productivity and on diversity in arable food webs. T...

Models of agro-ecosystems provide means of prediction beyond the bounds of experience or experimentation. Extrapolation may involve simulation of the expected behaviour for different climate and/or soil conditions, perhaps with alternative management, or for a longer time scale than observed experimentally. The issues to be addressed include those concerned with crop growth and profitability, e...