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The History and Generality of AQUATOX, a Robust Mechanistic Model
Citation:
Park, R., J. Clough, B. Rashleigh, AND D. Mauriello. The History and Generality of AQUATOX, a Robust Mechanistic Model. International Society for Ecological Modelling (ISEM) Global Conference, Baltimore, MD, May 08 - 12, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation sets the stage for an invited special session on EPA's AQUATOX model. The presentation will summarize the history of the model, and present a summary of worldwide model applications.
Description:
In 1987, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsored a workshop in Baltimore on modeling the fate and effects of toxic organics. The specifications for the AQUATOX model came out of this workshop, and the first paper on the modeling concept was published soon after. Since then, the US EPA has developed, documented, and supported the model for wide use at no charge, making the open-source code available through a Common Public License. Subsequently, modeling groups around the world have published a wide range of applications (Fig. 1), including some based on their own modifications of the code.AQUATOX is a mechanistically-rich model that can be used to compare baseline and perturbed conditions due to physical, chemical, biological, and ecotoxicological stressors in a wide variety of aquatic ecosystems. The ability to examine causal relationships at the process level confers transparency that is required in many applications. Once calibrated for a particular habitat, AQUATOX can be applied to similar habitats with minimal data requirements. For example, the model yielded useful qualitative results when applied without calibration in a screening study of eutrophication in Virginia streams using a default parameter set calibrated to both nutrient-poor and nutrient-enriched streams in Minnesota.AQUATOX has been used in prediction of time-varying biomagnification and half-lives of contaminants in streams, reservoirs, and estuaries; in risk analysis of pesticides in mesocosms, ponds, and streams; in determination of water-quality criteria in streams and reservoirs; in damage assessment of oil in nearshore habitats, and in forecasts of ecosystem responses to climate change. The unique generality and widespread acceptance of AQUATOX is due to its robust scientific basis. This symposium will present several detailed examples.