Integrating spatial and environmental stressors in a population model of Folsomia candida (Collembola, Isotomidae): a Formal Model within ALMaSS framework
Open accessAbstract
Collembola are key soil invertebrates that contribute to decomposition processes and nutrient cycling in agricultural ecosystems. Folsomia candida , a parthenogenetic euedaphic species, is widely used as a model organism in ecotoxicological testing, yet population-level responses to environmental stressors in spatially structured landscapes remain poorly understood. We present a formal model of F. candida developed using a subpopulation approach within the Animal, Landscape and Man Simulation System (ALMaSS). The model integrates stage-structured population dynamics with spatially explicit landscape processes, incorporating hourly weather data and daily soil moisture dynamics at 10 by 10 m resolution. Growth, development, reproduction, and mortality are driven by temperature, soil moisture, and food quality through empirically parameterised thermal performance curves and dose–response functions fitted to published experimental data. The model explicitly represents egg, juvenile, and adult life stages, with stage transitions and vital rates responding non-linearly to environmental conditions. Soil moisture effects are modelled using a novel integration of ERA5 reanalysis data, soil physical properties, and evapotranspiration to estimate surface soil water potential. Temperature and moisture effects are combined using a limiting-factor approach, reflecting current understanding of physiological constraints. The model is designed for simulations at subpopulation spatial scales of 100 m 2 , within landscapes typically 10 km × 10 km, providing a mechanistic framework for exploring F. candida population dynamics under realistic environmental heterogeneity in agricultural landscapes. This formal model documentation establishes the theoretical foundation and empirical basis for subsequent model implementation, evaluation, and application to questions in landscape ecology and environmental risk assessment.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 54
- Authors
- Xie, L., Duan, X., Norouzi, S., de Jonge, L. W., & Topping, C. J.
- Affiliations
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Tjele, Denmark
- Venue
- Agricultural and Environmental Modelling
- Publisher
- Pensoft Publishers
- Published
- 2026-04-27
- Volume
- 8
- ISSN
- 3134-1810 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W7156051608
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 54
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Agricultural and Environmental Modelling (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- ZooKeys (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Biodiversity Heritage Library (Smithsonian Institution) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- European Commission (101135213)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Collembola Taxonomy and Ecology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Keywords
- Folsomia candida, Collembola, population dynamics, stage-structured population model, soil moisture, soil temperature, thermal performance curves, dose-response relationship, limiting factors, soil water potential, evapotranspiration, environmental stressors, spatially explicit modelling, agricultural landscapes, soil invertebrates, environmental risk assessment, mechanistic model
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
