LCSG’s final 2026 Spring Research Webinar will feature a presentation from Alex Amann from SUNY Plattsburgh.<\/p>\n
Rapid shifts in water quality during episodic high-flow events can disproportionately affect annual nutrient loading from forested headwater catchments. In the Northeastern United States, observed increases in total and extreme precipitation over the past century – trends expected to intensify with ongoing climate change – raise concerns about how these events drive watershed nutrient\u00a0fluxes. In recent decades, several flooding events in the Lake Champlain\u00a0Basin (LCB) of NY\/VT have been associated with acute deterioration of lake water\u00a0quality and traditional long-term sampling regimes may underestimate episodic\u00a0contributions. We are collecting and analyzing high-flow event stream water from four\u00a0LCB headwater catchments in the Adirondack Mountains of\u00a0New York. These catchments vary principally in their forest management history and age, occupying a spectrum from recently harvested timberland to old growth\u00a0forest. Our focus is on total and dissolved forms of nitrogen and\u00a0phosphorus, as well as major cations and anions. Of particular interest is determining precipitation thresholds required to activate strong nutrient export responses, as well as how the timing and magnitude of these exports varies in each of the catchments during a specific event. This study will contribute to ongoing efforts to refine watershed nutrient budgets and inform\u00a0nonpoint source pollution mitigation strategies that address downstream water quality issues such as eutrophication under variable hydroclimatic regimes.<\/p>\n
Participants should expect approximately 30 minutes of presentation, which will be recorded, followed by a facilitated, 30-minute Q&A period.<\/p>\n