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AOBPreview published online on January 3, 2006
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mcj048
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received August 2, 2005
Revised September 29, 2005
Accepted November 21, 2005

Article

ALAMEDA, a Structural-Functional Model for Faba Bean Crops: Morphological Parameterization and Verification

MARGARITA RUIZ-RAMOS 1 and M. INÉS MÍNGUEZ 1 *

1 Departamento de Producción Vegetal: Fitotecnia, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
M. INÉS MÍNGUEZ, E-mail: ines.minguez{at}upm.es


  Abstract

• Background Plant structural (i.e. architectural) models explicitly describe plant morphology by providing detailed descriptions of the display of leaf and stem surfaces within heterogeneous canopies and thus provide the opportunity for modelling the functioning of plant organs in their microenvironments. The outcome is a class of structural-functional crop models that combines advantages of current structural and process approaches to crop modelling. ALAMEDA is such a model.

• Methods The formalism of Lindenmayer systems (L-systems) was chosen for the development of a structural model of the faba bean canopy, providing both numerical and dynamic graphical outputs. It was parameterized according to the results obtained through detailed morphological and phenological descriptions that capture the detailed geometry and topology of the crop. The analysis distinguishes between relationships of general application for all sowing dates and stem ranks and others valid only for all stems of a single crop cycle.

• Results and Conclusions The results reveal that in faba bean, structural parameterization valid for the entire plant may be drawn from a single stem. ALAMEDA was formed by linking the structural model to the growth model ‘Simulation d'Allongement des Feuilles’ (SAF) with the ability to simulate approx. 3500 crop organs and components of a group of nine plants. Model performance was verified for organ length, plant height and leaf area. The L-system formalism was able to capture the complex architecture of canopy leaf area of this indeterminate crop and, with the growth relationships, generate a 3D dynamic crop simulation. Future development and improvement of the model are discussed.

Keywords: Faba bean, architecture, allometric relationships, structural-functional modelling, virtual plants, parameterization, L-systems, growth model.
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