MODELING ASPECTS OF FOREST DECLINE IN GERMANY - II - APPLICATION AND VALIDATION OF AN INTEGRATED SOIL-PLANT-MODEL

In 1993 the German Federal Environmental Agency initiated a project to evaluate the forest decline research of the period 1982-1992 in Germa ny. The soil-plant-model PLOT applied here was developed to integrate the research results. It consists of a soil module, BODEN, and a plant module, FICHTE, which both include several submodels. For validation of submodels, modules, and the whole model, a stepwise procedure was c hosen and parts will be presented here. Focussing on soil processes an d nutritional aspects, the model performance as well as the applicabil ity range and limits are shown. The underlying cause-effect-relationsh ips and the theoretical aspects of the modelling exercise are presente d in a second paper [1, this volume]. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.