Independent Review Highly Rates Agroforestry Modelling in APSIM

APSIM’s ability to model agroforestry ranked very highly in a recent review of thirteen agroforestry models assessed for their suitability for simulating 35 criteria for nature’s contributions to people (NCPs; https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/11/2106). These criteria were grouped under categories of biodiversity, air quality, climate, water, surface protection, and productivity. APSIM received the highest possible rating for 20 of the 35 criteria; three models shared the next best score of 14 out of 35. The report concluded that the APSIM framework, ‘. . . covers most ecosystem properties that translate to NCPs’ and that the, ‘ . . . framework provides modularity, portability and interoperability as the source code of the respective modules is publicly accessible . . ‘. APSIM was assessed as providing 90-100% coverage of climate and water, but did less well for other categories, and least well for biodiversity, although there have been examples of the latter too. The APSIM Initiative welcomes such reviews and encourages further development of its agroforestry modelling capabilities. Within APSIM’s science and software review processes, users can develop modules within the framework for sharing via public release.