Table 1.

Key modeling terms in reference to hydrologic connectivity of non-floodplain wetlands (NFWs)

Term	Definition
Hydrologic connectivity	The hydrologically mediated exchange of materials or energy between watershed units (e.g., wetland and downstream waters)
Hydrologic fluxes	Fluxes of water between landscape elements typically described by the mode, magnitude, duration, and timing of the specific flux
Empirical model	Application of a statistical tool (e.g., correlation, time-series analysis, spatial analysis) to empirical observations
Process-based model	Mathematical representation of hydrological processes
Model complexity	Characterized by both number of factors (parameters, variables) and hydrologic processes represented
Spatial representation	The method used to discretize the landscape into control volumes (e.g., spatially lumped, semi-distributed, and distributed models)
Model domain	The portions of the landscape simulated. In wetland systems, these are normally wetland surface water, shallow subsurface, and deep groundwater systems.
Model fidelity	A model’s ability to faithfully represent hydrologic processes
Conceptually based model	Process-based models that route water between user-defined control volumes often using equations that presuppose physical processes (e.g., Manning’s and Darcy’s equations) and predefined thresholds.
Physically based model	Process-based models that employ first principles (e.g., conservation of mass and momentum) and are often spatially distributed
Lumped model	Process-based models that spatially aggregate landscape properties of a single landscape unit to simulate hydrological processes
Semi-distributed model	Process-based model that utilizes a series of spatially lumped models used to simulate hydrologic processes
Distributed model	Process-based model that discretizes the landscape into small units, typically in the form of a grid or link-node network, to simulate hydrological processes