| Abstract | To characterize nonlinear responses to global climate change in linked aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through
1. Selection of a linked terrestrial-aquatic ecosystem that provides critical ecosystem services and ecological functions,
2. Characterization of various global change scenarios, incorporating both climate and land cover, and a method of assessing their effect on the identified ecosystem through the primary forcing factor of hydrology (both alone and in conjunction with other human-associated stressors),
3. Identification of potential nonlinear ecological responses (sensu Scheffer et al., 2002) in the selected ecosystem as a result of these changes, and
4. Estimation of the resultant change in ecosystem services on a watershed and Basin-wide scale in the Susquehanna River Basin. |
