IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecomod/v365y2017icp80-92.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A dynamical systems framework for crop models: Toward optimal fertilization and irrigation strategies under climatic variability

Author

Listed:
  • Pelak, Norman
  • Revelli, Roberto
  • Porporato, Amilcare

Abstract

Crop models are widely used for the modeling and prediction of crop yields, as decision support tools, and to develop research questions. Though typically constructed as a set of dynamical equations, crop models are not often analyzed from a specifically dynamical systems point of view, despite its potential to elucidate the roles of feedbacks and internal and external forcings on system stability and the optimization of control protocols (e.g., irrigation and fertilization). Here we develop a minimal dynamical system, based in part on the widely known AquaCrop model, consisting of a set of ordinary differential equations (ODE's) describing the evolution of canopy cover, soil moisture, and soil nitrogen. These state variables are coupled through canopy growth and senescence, the evapotranspiration and percolation of soil moisture, and the uptake and leaching of soil nitrogen. The system is driven by random hydroclimatic forcing. Important crop model responses, such as biomass and yield, are calculated, and optimal yield and profitability under differing climate scenarios, irrigation strategies, and fertilization strategies are examined within the developed framework. The results highlight the need to maintain the system at or above resource limitation thresholds to achieve optimality and the role of system variability in determining management strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Pelak, Norman & Revelli, Roberto & Porporato, Amilcare, 2017. "A dynamical systems framework for crop models: Toward optimal fertilization and irrigation strategies under climatic variability," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 365(C), pages 80-92.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:365:y:2017:i:c:p:80-92
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.10.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380017304325
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.10.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Turner, Benjamin L. & Kodali, Srinadh, 2020. "Soil system dynamics for learning about complex, feedback-driven agricultural resource problems: model development, evaluation, and sensitivity analysis of biophysical feedbacks," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 428(C).
    2. Knowling, Matthew J. & Bennett, Bree & Ostendorf, Bertram & Westra, Seth & Walker, Rob R. & Pellegrino, Anne & Edwards, Everard J. & Collins, Cassandra & Pagay, Vinay & Grigg, Dylan, 2021. "Bridging the gap between data and decisions: A review of process-based models for viticulture," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    3. Stefania Tomasiello & Jorge E. Macías-Díaz, 2023. "A Mini-Review on Recent Fractional Models for Agri-Food Problems," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-12, May.
    4. Haddon, Antoine & Kechichian, Loïc & Harmand, Jérôme & Dejean, Cyril & Ait-Mouheb, Nassim, 2023. "Linking soil moisture sensors and crop models for irrigation management," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 484(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:365:y:2017:i:c:p:80-92. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.