Food web and ecological models used to assess aquatic ecosystems submitted to aquaculture activities

Abstract

Continental aquatic ecosystems play a fundamental role in economic and social development; however, they are vulnerable to environmental degradation due to the various stresses to which they are submitted. Aquaculture is among the main anthropic activities that influence these environments. Mathematical modelling of aquatic ecosystems performed using a set of computational tools allows simplified representation of environment regarding its biotic and abiotic components. Some of the most used techniques are: hydrodynamic modelling, focusing on the dispersion of nutrients; nutrient-mass balance modelling, especially phosphorus; bioenergetic modelling in animal production systems, with an estimate of the generation of residues in the environment by farmed animals; and trophic and ecological modelling, focusing on aquatic communities and their interactions. These techniques help understand changes caused by aquaculture systems in aquatic environments. In this way, it is possible to estimate the magnitude and extent of the impacts of these activities by simulating the possible environmental changes over time. It can be concluded that techniques involving mathematical modelling can provide relevant information for future impacts prediction on aquatic environments, promoting the management of water resources and their multiple uses.

Influence of impreciseness in designing tritrophic level complex food chain modeling in interval environment

“…Freedman and Waltman [16] reported the conditions of persistence of a three-species predator-prey model. Moura and Silva [17] have explained the food web and ecological models used in the aquatic ecosystems. Different approaches of mathematical modeling and numerical simulation has been carried out by Kademi et al [18] for employing the microorganism-based probiotics for removal of the prevalent toxins in the food items.…”

Application and Comparison of Different Models for Quantifying the Aquatic Community in a Dam-Controlled River

“…Many studies have been conducted on the ecological models to quantify aquatic communities [23,24], with a main focus on the uptake model [25,26], bioenergetic model [27], evolution model of aquatic organisms [28][29][30], species interactions model [31,32], and numerical models that quantify relations between aquatic densities and diversity [33]. Those types of models are currently becoming more comprehensive, allowing for the modeling and prediction of an increasing number of aquatic features and processes [34]. However, as the complexity of the model increases, the number of data samples required, the number of parameters, and the difficulty of fitting the model all increase accordingly.…”