Chesapeake Bay Environmental Models

Environmental models are essential for simulating ecosystems that are either too large or too complex to isolate to conduct real world experiments. Models allow scientists to simulate changes in an ecosystem due to changes in population, land use, or pollution management. These simulations, called scenarios, allow scientists to facilitate prediction of positive or negative changes in our ecosystem from management actions such as improved sewage treatment, reduced fertilizer or manure application on agricultural land, or controlling urban sprawl. Models use mathematical representations to simulate physical, chemical, and biological processes in the 'real' world to estimate the effects of complex and varying environmental events and conditions.

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