Comparison of an Ecological Model of Lake Ontario and Phosphorus Loading Models

Abstract

Predicted responses of Lake Ontario to phosphorus loads from two empirical relationships and an ecological model were compared. Predictions of annual average concentrations of total phosphorus and chlorophyll a by the ecological model were consistent with those predicted by the simpler models. We concluded that the use of a particular type of model is governed by the nature of the problems being addressed rather than an inherent superiority of either approach.