Carbon, nitrogen, and water response to climate and land use changes in Pennsylvania during the 20th and 21st centuries

Future climate projections indicate that Pennsylvania will get significantly warmer and wetter due to continued increases in atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations. Using the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model version Hydro2 (TEM-Hydro2), this study explores the effect of different climate and land use scenarios on carbon, nitrogen, and water dynamics during the 20th and 21st centuries. TEM-Hydro2 runs are forced by historical 20th century climate data and by 21st century climate projections from the NCAR CCSM3.0 IPCC A2 and B1 scenarios, a relatively high and low GHG emissions scenario, respectively. Regrowing forests are the only ecosystem with positive Net Carbon Exchange (NCE) and sequestered more than 12,000 g C m−2 during the 20th century. The highest rates of leaching of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) occurred in fertilized croplands in the 20th century. Twenty first century runoff increases by 30% in the A2 scenario and 20% in the B1 scenario, but DIN leaching only increases in the A2 scenario. DIN leaching depends upon both runoff and available inorganic nitrogen, which decreases due to high productivity and enhanced plant nitrogen uptake. The effect of increasing urbanization in the 21st century is to reduce NCE by about 34% in both climate scenarios, while water runoff increases by 5% and DIN leaching decreases by 17%. The reduced leaching is the result of converting agricultural land to suburban areas, which are a combination of turflawn and forests, both of which have lower leaching rates than croplands or pastures. Incorporating realistic forest stand age substantially increases the NCE but has little effect on runoff or DIN leaching. Maize yields decrease in the A2 scenario due to the excessive leaching, but increase in the B1 scenario. These results illustrate why it is important to include scenarios of both GHG emissions and realistic land use changes in model projections of the regional impacts of climate change in the 21st century.

► Model runs for Pennsylvania include different land use and climate scenarios.
► Runoff increases by 30% in the A2 scenario and 20% in the B1 scenario.
► Moderate rainfall improves crop yield, but excessive rainfall limits crop yield.
► Moderate rainfall reduces DIN leaching due to enhanced productivity.
► Increased urbanization reduces DIN leaching due to reduced agriculture.