The reviewers have recognized that this manuscript may have some value as an idealized framework that provides context for more detailed applications. There is certainly a place for this sort of mathematical formalism. Reviewer #2 rightly points out that such formalisms need to demonstrate clear application to the real world. One example could include verifying that the model can, to some degree, reproduce real world data. Another example could include ensuring that, although the model may be missing some processes, it still contains the right ones - phrased in the converse, one needs to be certain that increasing the complexity of the model will not totally change the answers one gets.

The authors need to instill confidence in readers that their model is useful. I believe this could be the case, but those points are not as clearly communicated as they need to be. I encourage the authors to focus on this when revising the manuscript.

The authors have done an excellent job of addressing the reviewer comments satisfactorily. You indicated that you would upload the code used to produce the manuscript - now is a good time to do so.