Published

Credit: Andrew Robison

Credit: Andrew Robison

Despite expanded suburban development, nitrogen fluxes to the estuary have remained steady since the early 1990s. River flow, which is becoming more variable along with climate, largely determines nitrogen retention. Imbalances between nutrient supply and demand reduce nutrient regulation during higher flows. Work at PIE LTER helped lead to a generalized framework for modeling material fluxes at river network scales – the River Network Saturation framework. Knowing when and where river networks become saturated for different constituents allows scientists and managers to better extrapolate to broader spatial scales, clarify the role of rivers in continental element cycles, and identify policy priorities.

Learn more

  1. Morse, NB and WM Wollheim. 2014. Climate variability masks the impacts of land use change on nutrient export in a suburbanizing watershed. Biogeochemistry. doi: 10.1007/s 10533-014-9998-6
  2. Wollheim WM et al. 2018. River network saturation concept: factors influencing the balance of biogeochemical supply and demand of river networks. Biogeochemistry. doi: 10.1007/s10533-018-0488-0

Contact

Anne Giblin
agiblin@mbl.edu

Posted:  July 15, 2020