Simulation of rice biomass accumulation by an extended logistic model including influence of meteorological factors

The biomass (X) of a biological population, described by growth models, depends only on time (t), i.e., X = f(t). Some parameters in these models are frequently taken as constants, but they may vary with growth processes under different ecological conditions. An extended logistic model including changes in the influence of meteorological factors is developed to simulate biomass accumulation processes of rice sown on different dates. The model may be generally described as X = f (p, t), in which p stands for meteorological factors. The model can be used to generalize population growth processes in experiments carried out under different environments. It is shown that the model may account for 96.6% of the variance of rice biomass on the basis of sowing dates, developmental stage, solar radiation and temperature in the Yangtze River valley in China.