Divergent responses of nitrogen-species loadings to future climate change in the Chesapeake Bay watershed Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies

Climate plays a critical role in regulating N loading from terrestrial ecosystems to coastal waters and further affecting the health and functioning of coastal ecosystems. However, the sensitivities of riverine exports of different N species to climate change have rarely been investigated. This study examines the response of riverine exports of ammonia (NH4+), nitrate (NO3–), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), and particulate organic nitrogen (PON) to future changes in precipitation and temperature. A suite of climate forcings was used to drive a process-based terrestrial–aquatic model, DLEM (Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model), to project changes in N loading to the Chesapeake Bay in the mid-21st century, relative to the 1990s. Grant no. NA16NOS4780207