A grazing model for simulating the impact of historical land management decisions in sensitive landscapes: Model design and validation

Citation

Thomson AM & Simpson I (2006) A grazing model for simulating the impact of historical land management decisions in sensitive landscapes: Model design and validation. Environmental Modelling and Software, 21 (8), pp. 1096-1113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2005.05.008

Abstract
This paper reports the construction and testing of a historical environmental simulation model, Búmodel (bú: Icelandic – farm estate or enterprise). The model permits the investigation of historical grazing management under variable environmental conditions in Iceland through the prediction of spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation biomass and utilisation. Input parameters of the model are environmental, livestock and management variables from historical and archaeological sources. Process sub-models were constructed using contemporary Icelandic data. Validation of the model was based on an independent, published grazing experiment and demonstrated that Búmodel-predicted utilisable biomass values and biomass intake values fall within ±1 standard deviation of observed values. Búmodel provides a validated representation of linkages between environmental and management elements in a historical grazing system. It incorporates key issues of spatial and temporal scale, data quality, model validation and the inherent stochasticity of landscape change over historical periods. In doing so, it enables researchers interested in past landscapes to investigate the flexibility of the historical Icelandic grazing systems within the constraints of climate and vegetation cover, and provides a framework and methodology that can be applied to other historical extensive livestock-based agricultural systems. Access to the model is available at http://www.sbes.stir.ac.uk/research/environmental_modelling/.

Keywords
Spatio-temporal model; Historical landscapes; Grazing management; Iceland; Domestic livestock; Utilisation; Validation

Journal
Environmental Modelling and Software: Volume 21, Issue 8

People

Professor Ian Simpson

Professor, Biological and Environmental Sciences