Authors
Craig A Emmerton, Ken G Beaty, Nora J Casson, Jennifer A Graydon, Raymond H Hesslein, Scott N Higgins, Hisham Osman, Michael J Paterson, Andrew Park, Jacques C Tardif
Publication date
2019/3/15
Journal
Ecosystems
Volume
22
Pages
363-378
Publisher
Springer US
Description
The climate of the circumpolar Boreal forest is changing rapidly, resulting in a growing frequency of wildfires and changing precipitation patterns. These climate-related stressors may influence the cycling of nutrients within, and overall ecosystem condition of, Boreal watersheds. However, long-term perspectives of concurrent climate-related impacts on the cycling of nutrients in watersheds are rare. We present multi-decadal terrestrial and lake mass budgets of nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon within a headwater Boreal Shield watershed that was recovering from an extensive wildfire while experiencing measureable increases in annual precipitation. We used these budgets to quantify associations between nutrient retention in each ecosystem and changes in metrics defining landscape recovery after wildfire or precipitation. The terrestrial watershed retained over half of all nitrogen and phosphorus delivered …
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