Ecological Network Model and Analysis for Rawal Lake, Pakistan

Amjad, M., Fath, B.D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9440-6842, & Rovenskaya, E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2761-3443 (2011). Ecological Network Model and Analysis for Rawal Lake, Pakistan. IIASA Interim Report. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: IR-11-023

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Abstract

Ecosystems are complex dynamic systems that form highly structured biotic and abiotic interactions. One common approach for studying ecosystems is to consider the structure based on thermodynamics and to use energy transfers between components to investigate the resultant network in terms of its throughflow, storage, and organizational properties. Energy is continually input into an ecosystem in the form of light energy, and some energy is lost with each transfer to a higher trophic level. There are many physical, chemical, and biological limitations to the effectiveness and energy transfer between components of an ecosystem in nature. A water reservoir called Rawal Lake in sub-tropical forest ecosystem in the Margalla Hills of Islamabad forms the domain of this study. The main objectives of this study are: 1) to identify the species present in the Rawal Lake ecological network, 2) to summarize what is known about the energy flows on the basis of the food consumption, and 3) to build a model that represents its dynamics. Ecosystems are impacted by growing anthropogenic interventions, and water resources in particular face many potential threats from climatic events like flooding, droughts, etc., which can result in structural and functional changes in different living and nonliving interactions. This study catalogues the potential threats/ risks to these systems due to climate change or other disturbances. A linear donor controlled ecological network model has been developed to analyze the resilience of the aquatic ecosystem due to these external threats.

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