The CoastWeb-Model – Structures and Set-Up

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to present the basic structure of the CoastWeb-model. Most of the structures and equations for the coastal version of the model are the same as for the LakeWeb-model (see Håkanson and Boulion, 2002a), but there are also differences related to the transformation of a lake model to a model for the entire Baltic Sea. It is certainly important which organisms and processes are accounted for in models of this kind, and it is equally important to explain and motivate how this is done. To keep the text short and to the point, we will present a series of overview figures. We will also discuss how the CoastWeb-model differs from other seemingly similar models.

The aquatic ecosystem:

It is a world of hill and valley, plain and grove, just like ours, and, on the whole, its inhabitants are not unlike us. They are perhaps a little more candid in their manner of devouring each other. They do not, as far as I know, talk about the laws of supply and demand, or promulgate doctrines about the survival of the fittest. Not that I blame us – far from it. If I am to be devoured, I would rather have it done tactfully by a minister with golden words in his rotund mouth.

H.T. Sheringham (1912).