An Individual-Based Model for Evaluating the Effects of Hydrology on Biotic Stream Communities

摘要

The primary objective of this work is to develop a network-scale ecological model for use in evaluating the long-term hydrologic effect of landscape change and management on aquatic communities. The specific component of work presented here describes the background and development of a fish habitat selection model that incorporates the influence of connectivity on community development. The research uses a spatially-explicit individual-based model (IBM) to analyze network dynamics in stream ecosystems in terms of fish movement, mechanisms of fish community assembly and sustainability, and fish community structure in response to outside driving influences. The primary input to this model is streamflow and hydrologic connectivity related to watershed landscape characteristics. The result is a practical tool that can easily incorporate ecological integrity into management decisions that affect a system's hydrologic characteristics.