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Models

Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The lab’s work is built on process-based ecosystem models. We develop new process representations, test them against field and laboratory data, and release the analysis code behind our papers.

McGill Wetland Model (MWM)

A process-based model of peatland carbon and nutrient cycling. Our contributions added peat cohort tracking, microbial controls on decomposition, and an explicit ericoid mycorrhizal fungal pool coupled to shrub nutrient demand.

MWM structure: net primary production feeding litter into stacked peat cohorts with diffusion, advection and runoff, expanded to show the soil organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, microbial biomass and enzyme pools

Peat cohort tracking and microbial decomposition. From Shao et al. 2022, STOTEN

Two-panel MWM structure diagram: nutrient flows among moss, shrubs, ericoid mycorrhizal fungi, saprotrophs and soil organic and inorganic pools, and the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus exchange between shrub and ericoid mycorrhizal reserves

Nutrient cycling and the shrub–ericoid mycorrhizal exchange. From Shao et al. 2023, New Phytologist

Model website: mwmpeat.weebly.com

Applied in: peatland carbon and nutrient cycling — see Research

Myco-CORPSE

An extension of the CORPSE soil carbon model that represents mycorrhizal functional diversity and the carbon cost of nitrogen acquisition in temperate forests, with explicit ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal pools.

Myco-CORPSE structure: plant, saprotroph, protected and unprotected soil organic matter pools and inorganic nitrogen, with newly added ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal pools exchanging carbon and nitrogen with the plant

Model structure, with the mycorrhizal pools added to CORPSE. From Shao et al. 2023, SBB

Conceptual diagram linking nitrogen deposition, temperature and CO2 to soil nitrogen supply, plant nitrogen demand and the carbon cost of mycorrhizal fungi

Drivers of mycorrhizal carbon cost. From Shao et al. 2025, JGR: Biogeosciences

Applied in: mycorrhizal carbon economies in forests — see Research

ecosys

A comprehensive process-based ecosystem model. We extended it with mineral dissolution kinetics so that enhanced rock weathering is simulated alongside, rather than separately from, plant and microbial activity.

Integrated process architecture of ecosys: coupled carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, water, energy and mineral transformations across plant, soil and atmosphere, including plant allocation, five substrate-microbe complexes, microbial functional groups and soil hydrology

Integrated process architecture: coupled C, N, P, water, energy and mineral transformations across plant, soil and atmosphere

Schematic of enhanced rock weathering in the ecosys model: geochemical weathering, secondary precipitation, the soil nutrient cycle, production of non-carbonate acids and plant eco-hydrological feedbacks

Coupled weathering, nutrient and plant processes as implemented in ecosys

Source code: github.com/jinyun1tang/ECOSYS

Applied in: enhanced rock weathering and soil carbon removal — see Research

References
  1. Shao, S., Wu, J., He, H., & Roulet, N. (2022). Integrating McGill Wetland Model (MWM) with peat cohort tracking and microbial controls. Science of The Total Environment, 806, 151223. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151223
  2. Shao, S., Wu, J., He, H., Moore, T. R., Bubier, J., Larmola, T., Juutinen, S., & Roulet, N. T. (2022). Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi mediate the response of ombrotrophic peatlands to fertilization: a modeling study. New Phytologist, 238(1), 80–95. 10.1111/nph.18555
  3. Shao, S., Wurzburger, N., Sulman, B., & Hicks Pries, C. (2023). Ectomycorrhizal effects on decomposition are highly dependent on fungal traits, climate, and litter properties: A model-based assessment. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 184, 109073. 10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.109073
  4. Shao, S., Shortt, Z., Sulman, B., & Hicks Pries, C. (2025). Modeling Mycorrhizal Carbon Costs in Temperate Forests: The Impacts of Functional Diversity and Global Change Factors. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 130(10). 10.1029/2025jg009198
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