Interactions of warming and altered nutrient load timing on the phenology of oxygen dynamics in Chesapeake Bay

Abstract

The impacts of nutrient loading on estuaries have been well studied over the past several decades (Boynton et al., 1982;Riemann et al., 2015;Scavia et al., 2004), due to the multitude of negative water quality, ecosystem, and economic impacts that have been attributed to excess nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations. The extent and duration of low dissolved oxygen waters are increasing in frequency and scale worldwide (Breitburg et al., 2018), in part because high rates of microbial respiration result from elevated phytoplankton production, fueled by these excess nutrients, and consume oxygen (Chen et al., 2007;Kemp et al., 1987). Low dissolved oxygen conditions impart physiological stress on many mobile and sessile aquatic organisms and can influence behavior (

Simulating climate change in a coastal watershed with an integrated suite of airshed, watershed, and estuary models

“…In the assessment of the changes in nutrient and sediment loads brought about by 2025 climate change, key aspects of climate change effects were considered, including changes in precipitation volume and intensity, evapotranspiration, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations, streamflow, and nutrient and sediment load (Bertani et al., 2021 this featured collection; Bhatt et al., 2023 this featured collection). The estuarine changes of water‐column warming, sea level rise, tidal wetland loss brought about by climate change and phenological changes in nutrient loading were also examined (Basenback et al., 2023 this featured collection; Cai, Shen, et al., 2022 this featured collection; Cerco & Tian, 2021 this featured collection; Cornwell et al., 2021 this featured collection; Hinson et al., 2021 this featured collection; Testa et al., 2021 this featured collection; Tian et al., 2022 this featured collection).…”