PhD Oral Defence: Development of hydrologic processes in the DNDC model to explore beneficial management for reducing nutrient losses from cropping systems

PhD Oral Defence of Ward Smith, Bioresource Engineering

Promoting sustainable agricultural practices that maintain or increase crop yields while limiting negative anthropogenic influences on the environment is an important global research initiative. Biophysical agricultural models are effective science-based management tools for assessing sustainability provided they are frequently updated with our current understanding of the many interlinked environmental processes. In this thesis the widely used DeNitrification DeComposition (DNDC) model was compared to the more hydrologically complex Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM2) to determine which processes were sufficient for simulating water and nitrogen dynamics.

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