Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Integrated model of climate change,
N deposition, hydrology, and nutrient export from forested watersheds.
NGCRP Contribution to the Project
Predicting the impacts of increasing atmospheric nitrogen deposition
on forest production, water yield and nitrogen leaching losses in
the Chesapeake Basin
This research will model and analyze the effects of atmospherically
deposited nitrogen on the Chesapeake Bay watershed basin using spatially
explicit process models with high specificity for forested watershed
processes in the Northeast. It will address the Chesapeake Bay Program
research priority for predicting the retention of atmospheric nitrogen
deposition on forested watersheds on a site specific and on a regional
basis. It utilizes model enhanced, high resolution, wet N deposition
and precipitation data to forests based on NADP/NTN data (Penn State
Univ.).
Forests make up 60% of the Chesapeake Bay Basin, the largest land
use classification, a total of 24.5 million acres. To be effective
in selecting management options, it is necessary to have accurate
estimates of nitrogen input to forested watersheds, retention by
forest processes, and loss from forested watersheds.
This research will provide estimates of nitrogen outputs from forested
watersheds of different forest types, using scenarios of N deposition,
precipitation, climate change and forest management within the Chesapeake
Bay watershed region. Forest inventory databases (FIA) from the
USDA Forest Service, and watershed gauging stations and water chemistry
analysis from USGS and USDA FS sites will provide independent validation
of model outputs.
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