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Sensitivity analysis of PROTECH, a new approach in phytoplankton modelling

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Abstract

The lake phytoplankton community model, PROTECH includes nested regression equations for the effect of surface:volume ratio, temperature and irradiance on growth rate. A sensitivity analysis was carried out of the effect of changing the regression slope coefficients on three aspects of the simulated output for Blelham Tarn, English Lake District, with fixed environmental variables. The assessed variables were K, the maximum biomass; K, time taken in days to reach K and the exponential growth rate, r'. It was found that the light adjustment equation was the most sensitive to changes in the slope parameters. Changes in the base growth rate and temperature adjustment functions had less effect. Because PROTECH uses the light adjustment equation the least, it was argued that any error caused by it was tolerable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NERC Institute of Freshwater Ecology, The Ferry House, Ambleside, LA22 0LP, U.K

    J. A. Elliott, A. E. Irish & C. S. Reynolds (Visiting Professor)

  2. Aquatic Environments Research Centre, Department of Geography, The University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AB, U.K

    C. S. Reynolds (Visiting Professor)

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Napier, 10 Colinton Road, Edinburgh, EH10 5DT, U.K

    J. A. Elliott & P. Tett

Authors
  1. J. A. Elliott
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  2. A. E. Irish
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  3. C. S. Reynolds
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  4. P. Tett
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Elliott, J.A., Irish, A.E., Reynolds, C.S. et al. Sensitivity analysis of PROTECH, a new approach in phytoplankton modelling. Hydrobiologia 414, 45–51 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003845202692

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003845202692

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