ALMANAC: A POTENTIAL TOOL FOR SIMULATING AGROFORESTRY YIELDS AND IMPROVING SWAT SIMULATIONS OF AGROFORESTRY WATERSHEDS

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), a robust watershed scale hydrological model, would benefit from the improvement of its plant model subroutine. To be applicable to agroforestry, the process-oriented plant model needs to be capable of simulating interspecies light competition, as well the water balance and nutrient balance of interacting crops, grasses, and woody species. It must also be able to consider short and long term effects of various management and climate scenarios. Here we describe the usefulness of the general plant competition model Agricultural Land Management Alternatives with Numerical Assessment Criteria (ALMANAC) in this capacity. Further, we discuss a version of the model (ALMANACBF) that realistically simulates complex successional changes in mixed coniferous and deciduous boreal forest ecosystems. For application to agroforestry in a tropical context (ALAMANCTF), plant physiological parameters need to be developed for relevant species and algorithms derived to describe particularities of management systems. Simulation scenarios could then be conducted and compared to forest inventory data to determine the accuracy of ALMANACTF in tropical systems. Current incorporation of ALMANAC into SWAT, including ALMANACBF capabilities, will improve the accuracy of watershed scale simulation of plant competition and agroforestry systems, and provide a basis for developing improved tropical systems routines. Accurate simulations will enable agroforesters and policy makers to adopt the most economically and ecologically sound management strategies at the farm and watershed scale.

[1]  J. Currie.  Soil Water , 1969, Nature.

[2]  W. Plonski.  Normal yield tables (metric) for major forest species of ontario , 1974 .

[3]  C.J.T. Spitters,et al.  Simulation of competition for light and water in crop-weed associations , 1983 .

[4]  S. Running,et al.  A general model of forest ecosystem processes for regional applications I. Hydrologic balance, canopy gas exchange and primary production processes , 1988 .

[5]  John R. Williams,et al.  A general, process-oriented model for two competing plant species , 1992 .

[6]  K. Stadt,et al.  Growth of understory Piceaglauca, Calamagrostiscanadensis, and Epilobiumangustifolium in relation to overstory light transmission , 1994 .

[7]  P. Nair,et al.  Soil-water and root dynamics under hedgerow intercropping in Semiarid Kenya , 1996 .

[8]  William R Ocumpaugh,et al.  Simulating Alamo Switchgrass with the ALMANAC Model , 1996 .

[9]  Roger R. B. Leakey,et al.  Definition of agroforestry revisited , 1996 .

[10]  M. Ter-Mikaelian,et al.  Biomass equations for sixty-five North American tree species , 1997 .

[11]  R. Waring,et al.  A generalised model of forest productivity using simplified concepts of radiation-use efficiency, carbon balance and partitioning , 1997 .

[12]  John R. Williams,et al.  LARGE AREA HYDROLOGIC MODELING AND ASSESSMENT PART I: MODEL DEVELOPMENT 1 , 1998 .

[13]  Biomass accumulation and radiation use efficiency of honey mesquite and eastern red cedar , 1998 .

[14]  M. Adams,et al.  The redistribution of soil water by tree root systems , 1998, Oecologia.

[15]  James R. Kiniry,et al.  Maize and Sorghum Simulation in Diverse Texas Environments , 1998 .

[16]  C. R. Tischler,et al.  Radiation use efficiency and leaf CO2 exchange for diverse C4 grasses. , 1999 .

[17]  J. P. Kimmins,et al.  Modelling forest ecosystem net primary production : the hybrid simulation approach used in FORECAST , 1999 .

[18]  Alain Franc,et al.  Biodiversity, disturbances, ecosystem function and management of European forests , 2000 .

[19]  Yun Xie,et al.  Maize and Sorghum Simulations with CERES-Maize, SORKAM, and ALMANAC under Water-Limiting Conditions , 2001 .

[20]  J. R. Bell,et al.  Simulating grass productivity on diverse range sites in Texas , 2002 .

[21]  Neil I. Huth,et al.  A framework for simulating agroforestry options for the low rainfall areas of Australia using APSIM , 2002 .

[22]  Changhui Peng,et al.  TRIPLEX: a generic hybrid model for predicting forest growth and carbon and nitrogen dynamics , 2002 .

[23]  J. Burke,et al.  The Forest Watershed and Riparian Disturbance study: a multi-discipline initiative to evaluate and manage watershed disturbance on the Boreal Plain of Canada , 2003 .

[24]  Fergus L. Sinclair,et al.  Trees, Crops and Soil Fertility: Concepts and Research Methods , 2003 .

[25]  C. Ong,et al.  Biophysical interactions in tropical agroforestry systems , 2004, Agroforestry Systems.

[26]  P. Khanna.  Nutrient cycling under mixed-species tree systems in southeast Asia , 1997, Agroforestry Systems.

[27]  R. I. Muetzelfeldt.  A framework for a modular modelling approach for agroforestry , 2004, Agroforestry Systems.

[28]  M. van Noordwijk,et al.  WaNuLCAS, a model of water, nutrient and light capture in agroforestry systems , 2004, Agroforestry Systems.

[29]  J. Arnold,et al.  SWAT2000: current capabilities and research opportunities in applied watershed modelling , 2005 .

[30]  J. Burke,et al.  Runoff and phosphorus export patterns in large forested watersheds on the western Canadian Boreal Plain before and for 4 years after wildfire , 2005 .

[31]  M. Reyes.  Progress Report: Agroforestry and Sustainable Vegetable Production in Southeast Asian Watersheds , 2006 .

[32]  J. Burke,et al.  Associations between watershed characteristics, runoff, and stream water quality: hypothesis development for watershed disturbance experiments and modelling in the Forest Watershed and Riparian Disturbance (FORWARD) project , 2006 .

[33]  S. B. McLaughlin,et al.  Projecting Yield and Utilization Potential of Switchgrass as an Energy Crop , 2006 .

[34]  Keith Douglass Warner,et al.  Sustainable Development of the Agricultural Bio-Economy , 2007, Science.

[35]  Jeffrey G. Arnold,et al.  The Soil and Water Assessment Tool: Historical Development, Applications, and Future Research Directions , 2007 .

[36]  G. W. Evers,et al.  Coastal Bermudagrass, Bahiagrass, and Native Range Simulation at Diverse Sites in Texas , 2007 .

[37]  C. Everson,et al.  Soil water competition in a temperate hedgerow agroforestry system in South Africa , 2009, Agroforestry Systems.

[38]  E. Prepas,et al.  A multi-species, process based vegetation simulation module to simulate successional forest regrowth after forest disturbance in daily time step hydrological transport models , 2008 .

[39]  A. Manceur,et al.  Dry matter partitions and specific leaf weight of soybean change with tree competition in an intercropping system , 2009, Agroforestry Systems.

[40]  Jeffrey G. Arnold,et al.  Advances in ecohydrological modelling with SWAT—a review , 2008 .

[41]  Shibu Jose,et al.  Agroforestry for ecosystem services and environmental benefits: an overview , 2009, Agroforestry Systems.

[42]  C. M. Feldhake.  Forage evapotranspiration and photosynthetically active radiation interception in proximity to deciduous trees , 2009 .