Having a visual class dependency map could significantly help you to better understand the structure of a complex ecosystem model. For example, a group in University of Tennessee published a web-based structure tree of the Community Land Model.

From the perspective of model development, a dependency map also increase your productivity and performance.

There are many approach to produce such a map. For example, if you are using Visual Studio IDE in Windows environment, you can try the built-in Architecture tool. And it will generate beautiful maps.

If you prefer to use open source alternatives, you can try Doxygen. It may be already installed in many Linux distributions. You can also use the Window version.

Below is an example my current ecosystem model structure:

Figure 1

Doxygen also has lots of other features you can try out.