EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF FRESH-WATER INFLOW ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF ESTUARINE MACROPHYTES

A mathematical model is used to analyse the role of freshwater inflow on spatial patterns and biomass of estuarine macrophytes. A cellular a utomaton is used, where the updating rules are deterministic. Environm ental heterogeneity is defined by salinity, water level fluctuations a nd freshwater inflow rates. The model is used to project the impact of freshwater release patterns on the distribution of macrophytes in two South African estuaries. Preliminary work on the development of a non -spatial model demonstrated the necessity of introducing a spatial com ponent in the model. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.