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FSPM-P: towards a general functional-structural plant model for robust and comprehensive model development

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Abstract

In the last decade, functional-structural plant modelling (FSPM) has become a more widely accepted paradigm in crop and tree production, as 3D models for the most important crops have been proposed. Given the wider portfolio of available models, it is now appropriate to enter the next level in FSPM development, by introducing more efficient methods for model development. This includes the consideration of model reuse (by modularisation), combination and comparison, and the enhancement of existing models. To facilitate this process, standards for design and communication need to be defined and established. We present a first step towards an efficient and general, i.e., not speciesspecific FSPM, presently restricted to annual or bi-annual plants, but with the potential for extension and further generalization.

Model structure is hierarchical and object-oriented, with plant organs being the base-level objects and plant individual and canopy the higher-level objects. Modules for the majority of physiological processes are incorporated, more than in other platforms that have a similar aim (e.g., photosynthesis, organ formation and growth). Simulation runs with several general parameter sets adopted from the literature show that the present prototypewas able to reproduce a plausible output range for different crops (rapeseed, barley, etc.) in terms of both the dynamics and final values (at harvest time) of model state variables such as assimilate production, organ biomass, leaf area and architecture.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecoinformatics, Biometrics and Forest Growth, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Michael Henke & Winfried Kurth

  2. UMR1345 Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences (IRHS), AGROCAMPUS OUEST Centre d’Angers, Angers, 49045, France

    Gerhard H. Buck-Sorlin

Authors
  1. Michael Henke
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  2. Winfried Kurth
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  3. Gerhard H. Buck-Sorlin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Henke.

Additional information

Michael Henke received his Diploma degree in computer science from the Cottbus University of Technology, Germany. Currently, he is working on his PhD in applied computer science at the Department of Ecoinformatics, Biometrics and Forest Growth, University of Gottingen, Germany. From 2009 to 2010, he was a visiting scholar at Zhejiang University, China. He worked as an assistant lecturer at Cottbus University of Technology and University of Gottingen, Germany, and as a researcher at French National Institute for Agricultural Research, Angers, France in 2013 and 2014, and also worked inWageningen UR, the Netherlands from 2014 to 2016. His research interests are functional-structural plant modelling and light calculation.

Winfried Kurth received his Diploma degree in mathematics, and PhD in theoretical computer science from Clausthal University of Technology, Germany. Subsequently, he was a junior researcher at the Universities of Göttingen and Bayreuth. From 2001 to 2008, he was a professor in practical computer science and graphics systems at Cottbus University of Technology, Germany. Since 2008, he is a professor in computer graphics and ecological informatics at University of Göttingen, Germany. His research fields include rulebased languages, representation of 3D data, functional-structural plant models, and simulation.

Gerhard H. Buck-Sorlin received his Diploma degree in biology at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and his PhD in biology at the University of Wales in Bangor, UK in 1997. Subsequently, he worked as a postdoctoral scientist at the Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben, Germany, and at Cottbus University of Technology, Germany from 1997 to 2007, and as a guest professor at the Zhejiang University, China from 2005 to 2009. Between 2007 and 2011, he worked as a senior scientist at Wageningen UR, the Netherlands. Since 2011, he is a professor in Fruit Tree Culture andModelling at Agrocampus Ouest, Centre d’Angers, France. His research fields include ecophysiology of crop plants, and functional-structural plant modelling.

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Henke, M., Kurth, W. & Buck-Sorlin, G.H. FSPM-P: towards a general functional-structural plant model for robust and comprehensive model development. Front. Comput. Sci. 10, 1103–1117 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11704-015-4472-8

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