Author(s)

A. Kull & T. Oja

Abstract

Influence of climate change on nutrient flows in boreonemoral floodplain ecosystem A. Kull & T. Oja Institute of Geography, University of Tartu, Estonia Abstract In boreal and boreonemoral zones the weather conditions play an essential role in nutrient flows in rural landscapes. Winter and summer have been the most stable seasons with respect to nutrient losses and changes in processes affecting nutrient release. On the contrary, spring and autumn are associated with generally high nutrient losses due to peak flow, and determine in large scale the character of physicochemical and biological processes also for summer and winter, respectively. The following factors have the highest priority in weather- induced changes in nutrient fluxes: a) duration of frozen surface, b) snowpack peak water, c) precipitation pattern over warm period, d) duration and continuity of certain weather, e) occurrence of night frost events, f) number of soil freeze- thaw cycles. Two GCM mod

Keywords