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The Questions and Decisions (QnD) screening model system was created to provide an effective and efficient tool to incorporate ecosystem, management, economics and socio-political issues into a user-friendly modeling framework. The model is written in object-oriented Java and can be deployed as a stand-alone program or as a web-accessed tool. The QnD model links the spatial components within geographic information system (ArcInfo Shape) files to the abiotic (climatic), biotic and chemical/contaminant interactions that exist in an environmental system. The model can be constructed on combinations of detailed technical data or estimated interactions of the ecological/management/social/economic forces influencing an ecosystem.

QnD-simulated ecosystems are represented by combinations of component, process and data objects that are constructed through the use of XML-based, input files. This flexible design allows different ecosystem/habitat/organism/chemical combinations to be efficiently formed, simulated and documented. Examples of QnD are referenced for wildlife management in savanna ecosystems, risk assessment within a riverine ecosystem and potential methylmercury production from restored wetland ecosystems.