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Apply System Dynamics Software for the Study of the Impacts of Oysters to the Nutrient Dynamics in a Tropical Lagoon

Tapeng Bay is the second largest lagoon in Taiwan. The biological and ecological environments are an autotrophic system and are influenced by seasonal variability, terrestrial pollutant inputs and the exchange rates with seawater. There¡¦re intense oyster culture and fish farming activities in the bay before July, 2002. The oyster was the most important spineless member in the lagoon. They would filtrate microplankton and detritus; they would also excrete nutrient and consume dissolved oxygen. Therefore, oyster played a very crucial role in the Tapeng Bay. This study combines the biological responses of the oysters with the complicated interaction among microplankton, nutrient, detritus and dissolved oxygen to establish the relationship of dynamical mechanisms between variables by applying the system dynamics simulation software STELLA.
Model results clearly reveal that the oysters are the main species of filtration. The factors which affect the biomass of oysters include microplankton concentration, temperature and individual mass; the connection between oysters and other biological variables is closely tied. The study has also shown that the removing of oysters may cause significant increases of plankton and detritus during the eutrophication condition. Although the simulated water quality variables show higher than those obtained from sampling experiments in the literatures, the trend corresponds well with the relative studies. Despite the fact that oysters excrete much nutrient and nutrient is mostly taken up by microplankton, the condition of nutrient limitation has never happened, which is in correspondence with the result. In the sensitivity analysis, the parameters of oyster filtration rate and the autotroph nitrogen to carbon ratio are important factors which have influence on oysters biomass, and the concentration of microplankton and ammonium. Oyster excretion rate and the proportion of oyster feces and pseudofeces also have significant influences on the concentration of ammonium.
The oyster culture racks in the Bay have already been torn down, but the Bay is still eutrophic. This is a clear indication of the importance of the oysters in the lagoon. Properly culture some oysters in the area where exist high concentrations of microplankton or organic input. By applying the oyster abundant filtration, planktons and suspended solids, mostly detritus and organic matters, can probably be controlled and the water quality in the bay can thus be improved.
Although the STELLA has its limitation on broader applications, the model developed by this study can be combined with the features of social or economic fields. A decision supporting system can be developed for the management of ecological environment policies.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0212107-143300
Date12 February 2007
CreatorsLee, Liang-shan
ContributorsC-M Kao, L Yang, C-S Yu
PublisherNSYSU
Source SetsNSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive
LanguageCholon
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0212107-143300
Rightsunrestricted, Copyright information available at source archive

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