Modeling Pasture Dynamics in a Mediterranean Environment: Case Study in Sardinia, Italy
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 5
Abstract
In this paper it was developed and tested a hydrologically based, spatially distributed crop yield model for the purpose of modeling pasture dynamics within the Mediterranean environment of Marghine Goceano, in Sardinia region, Italy. The model uses daily information of weather drivers given by temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation, and provides daily spatially distributed estimates of soil water content, runoff, and pasture growth, including leaf area index (LAI) and biomass. Pasture grass growth for 6 years (2001–2006) was simulated, and yearly average biomass yield () was compared against ground-based and satellite-based estimates from previous studies, finding acceptable model performance. Intraseasonal biomass dynamics was evaluated during year 2004 and compared against pointwise ground measures from former studies, with acceptable results. The spatially distributed leaf area index maps were compared against their satellite-derived counterparts (9.3-km pixel size, 2005–2006), available on a biweekly basis. The pasture model provides acceptable performance in depicting daily, spatially distributed dynamics of pasture grass, and may be useful when tackling a number of issues, including, e.g., (1) assessment of pasture (and fodder) productivity under current climate and management, (2) short-term to medium-term forecast of pasture yield for seasonal herding, and (3) modified pasture conditions under prospective climate change using climate forcing from general circulation models and other climate models. Future developments may regard inclusion of nutrient dynamics and study of (over)grazing effect upon pasture dynamics.
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Acknowledgments
The CGMS developed by MARS unit of JRC is acknowledged for sharing their maps of climate variables. Dr. Zhu at Boston University and Beijing Normal University is acknowledged for sharing LAI maps from AVHRR satellite. Eng. Ester Nana acknowledges support from the SHARE-Stelvio project funded by Lombardia Region. Eng. Daniele Bocchiola acknowledges support from 5xMille:I-CARE project funded by Politecnico di Milano. Eng. Andrea Soncini and Gabriele Confortola at Politecnico di Milano are kindly acknowledged for their help with geographic information system (GIS) processing.
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Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 5 • May 2015
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© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 22, 2013
Accepted: Aug 19, 2014
Published online: Oct 10, 2014
Discussion open until: Mar 10, 2015
Published in print: May 1, 2015
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