Next Gen is an overarching collaboration between ERDC and Texas State University to develop both future modeling efforts and comprehensive data sets. There are many individual projects funded through Next Gen, led by both ERDC and our university partners.
Some projects include:
General Vegetation Component Model Development
The objective of this work is to develop a component-based general vegetation model for plant communities linked to aquatic environments by adapting existing photosynthesis-based vegetation models developed for freshwater aquatic, dune, and crop vegetation communities.
The primary product of this work will include a LandLab component package named GenVeg that will be capable of integrating with existing LandLab model components as well as existing hydrodynamic models and data sources using a standard input/output.
GenVeg is being utilized for other projects as well:
Oregon State DOONIES
This project will add to the DOONIES model to further describe the coupling between aeolian processes and dunes. It will provide updates to improve how the model illustrates biomass valuation of plant parts and dispersion. This will lead to a better understanding of the relationship between biomass accumulation and win effects.
Predicting Dreissenid Mussel Spread Before and After Management Impacts
The spread of the invasive dreissenid mussels, Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena rostiformis bugensis, has become a major concern across the Western United States. Due to the risk potential for waterways and waterbodies across the United States, management practices need to be established to decrease the spread potential.
This project focuses on using the Dreissenid Mussel Dispersal Model that is currently being developed in collaboration with ERDC Integrated Ecological Modeling team and the Bureau of Reclamation and adding different, and potentially new, management practices into the model to determine how different practices could possible decrease spread across state lines and waterbodies.
Statistical Modeling for Quantifying Relationships Among Water Quality Parameters and Quagga Mussel Presence
This will be a collaborative effort between the ERDC Integrated Ecological Modeling Team (IEMT) and the US Bureau of Reclamation Ecological Research Laboratory (ERL). The ERL is currently collecting monthly water quality and planktonic samples (both zooplankton and phytoplankton) in multiple reservoirs in the SRP system. These data will be used by the IEMT to parameterize a suite of statistical models designed to untangle the complexity associated with quagga mussel presence and colonization. Statistical approaches will likely include multivariate statistics and multi-model selection under an information theoretic approach.
Seminar Series
See past seminars here.
Annual Collaboration Meeting
This summer, the Integrated Ecological Modeling team hosted the annual Next Generation Ecological Modeling meeting at ERDCWERX in downtown Vicksburg. Around 50 participants attended the IPR and collaboration day events, with over half being students and professors from partner universities including Texas State, Texas A&M, Utah State, St. Catherine’s, and Mississippi State. Over the first half of the week there were 31 presentations from ERDC researchers and students describing their work and how it could be interconnected with the larger goal of creating a new slate of models for ecological use. Technical Director Jennifer Seiter-Moser provided an overview of ERDC’s strategic objectives, which Dr. Todd Swannack continually emphasized. Collaborators were encouraged to look at their projects through this strategic lens and think ahead to the practical applications of their work.
After the IPR was completed, the guests were invited to tour selected ERDC labs, including the EL fish flume, CHL physical models, and the supercomputers at ITL. The students were shown examples of experimental capabilities and what services ERDC can provide for future projects. On the third day, Dr. Swannack discussed modeling workshops and other training opportunities available through the Integrated Ecological Modeling team. Then began a full day of collaborative meetings to brainstorm new ideas and connect specialists in various fields. Phase II of the Next Generation Ecological Modeling congressional project is just beginning, and this event strengthened ERDC’s relationships with these academic institutions and created new opportunities for future tech transfer.
