Habitat & Biodiversity

The mid-Atlantic region, drained by the massive Chesapeake and Delaware Bay watersheds, has been subject to rapid urbanization and suburbanization of previously forested or agricultural landscapes. Urbanization has been shown to increase the intensity and magnitude of surface runoff and shorten the time it takes for water and nutrients to reach water bodies. Further fragmentation of landscape parcels will likely continue to have repercussions for hydrology, water quality, and ecology of natural ecosystems, from marshes to forests. These land use challenges are also expected to intensify as future climate change spawns more extreme weather conditions, including droughts, heat waves, and severe storms.

The interests of DENIN affiliates focus on how the coupled influences of land use and climate change will impact the evolving health and integrity of complex terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and how we can develop useful predictive models, with emphasis on understanding how these changes will alter the fluxes and cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus.