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Processes
This page introduces the main processes represented in OSMOSE. During a simulation, schools move, feed, grow, mature, reproduce, die, and interact with other schools and resource groups. These processes are applied at each time step and together determine the dynamics of populations and the ecosystem.
For a step-by-step description of the order in which processes are applied during one simulation time step, see Time-step sequence.
While running OSMOSE, multiple processes happen at each time step. Schools may enter the model from outside the simulated area through incoming flux. After any additions from outside the model domain, the schools that are in egg form, alive, or dead are accounted for as part of school initialisation. Then, schools that are eggs or alive, and that are small enough, can feed on low-trophic-level inputs through the LTL update process.
Schools are then allowed to move throughout the model domain through movement. Once schools have entered, left, or moved within a given location of the model, mortality processes are applied. These include starvation, fishing, predation, post-reproduction senescence, and additional mortality processes. These processes are described together under mortality.
Some mortality sources can contribute to detritus, allowing part of the biomass of dead individuals to be recycled into the ecosystem. Schools that remain alive after movement and mortality then go through growth. Depending on their size, age, and species-specific rules, individuals may also go through maturation. Finally, mature adults can go through reproduction, contributing new eggs or offspring to the population.
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Time-step sequence
Describes the order in which processes are applied during a simulation time step. -
Movement
Describes how schools are redistributed across the spatial domain. -
Mortality
Introduces the different sources of mortality applied to schools. -
Predation
Describes predator-prey interactions between schools and how predation mortality is computed. -
Starvation
Describes mortality caused by insufficient food intake. -
Fishing
Describes fishing mortality and its links with fleets, selectivity, catchability, and effort. -
Growth
Describes how individuals increase in size through time. -
Maturation
Describes how individuals become mature depending on species-specific rules. -
Reproduction
Describes the production of eggs or offspring by mature individuals. -
Detritus
Describes how biomass from mortality processes can contribute to detritus or recycled biomass.
Some older or more specific process pages are also used in the documentation:
Users who want to understand the order of operations during a simulation should start with Time-step sequence.
Users interested in a specific biological or ecological process can go directly to the corresponding page, such as Movement, Predation, Growth, or Reproduction.
For the parameters and input files controlling these processes, see Inputs and Configuration and Reference Parameters.