Changes in streamflow and water temperature affect fish habitat in the Athabasca River basin in the context of climate change

Morales-Marín, L. A.; Rokaya, Prabin; Sanyal, Palash; Sereda, Jeff M.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.108718

Cited by 41 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Some major changes in fish density and community structure has already been reported in large rivers over France (Maire et al, 2019) for which we also found greater trends in Tw compared to small ones. Therefore, physical process-based thermal models like T-NET can also be used to assess the various stresses on freshwater habitat sustainability due to changes in Q and Tw (Morales-Marín et al, 2019).…”

Section: Implications For River Management and Aquatic Biotamentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional, multi-decadal analysis reveals that stream temperature increases faster than air temperature

Seyedhashemi

Vidal

Diamond

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Stream temperature appears to be increasing globally, but its rate remains poorly constrained due to a paucity of long-term data and difficulty in parsing effects of hydroclimate and landscape variability. Here, we address these issues using the physically-based thermal model T-NET (Temperature-NETwork) coupled with the EROS semi-distributed hydrological model to reconstruct past daily stream temperature and streamflow at the scale of the entire Loire River basin in France (105 km2 with 52278 reaches). Stream temperature increased for almost all reaches in all seasons (mean = +0.38 °C/decade) over the 1963–2019 period. Increases were greatest in spring and summer with a median increase of +0.38 °C (range = +0.11– +0.76 °C) and +0.44 °C (+0.08– +1.02 °C) per decade, respectively. Rates of stream temperature increases were greater than for air temperature across seasons for 50–86 % of reaches. Spring and summer increases were typically the greatest in the southern headwaters (up to +1 °C/decade) and in the largest rivers (Strahler order > 5). Importantly, air temperature and streamflow exerted joint influence on stream temperature trends, where the greatest stream temperature increases were accompanied by similar trends in air temperature (up to +0.71 °C/decade) and the greatest decreases in streamflow (up to −16 %/decade). Indeed, for the majority of reaches, positive stream temperature anomalies exhibited synchrony with positive anomalies in air temperature and negative anomalies in streamflow, highlighting the dual control exerted by these hydroclimatic drivers. Moreover, spring and summer stream temperature, air temperature, and streamflow time series exhibited common change-points occurring in the late 1980s, suggesting a temporal coherence between changes in the hydroclimatic drivers and a rapid stream temperature response. Critically, riparian vegetation shading mitigated stream temperature increases by up to 16 % in smaller streams (i.e., < 30 km from the source). Our results provide strong support for basin-wide increases in stream temperature due to joint effects of rising air temperature and reduced streamflow. We suggest that some of these climate change-induced effects can be mitigated through the restoration and maintenance of riparian forests, and call for continued high-resolution monitoring of stream temperature at large scales.

show abstract

Section: Implications For River Management and Aquatic Biotamentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional, multi-decadal analysis reveals that stream temperature increases faster than air temperature

Seyedhashemi

Vidal

Diamond

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ecosystem simulation models harness the power of computers to improve our understanding of ecosystem‐scale behavior by enabling users to both simulate historical dynamics and make predictions about future conditions (Canham, Cole, & Lauenroth, 2004; Wiegert, 1975). While ecosystem simulation models are inherently simplified relative to natural ecosystems, they are increasingly used by ecologists to explore how ecosystems may change under different climate and land use scenarios (e.g., Asch, Pilcher, Rivero‐Calle, & Holding, 2016; Hipsey et al, 2019; Morales‐Marín, Rokaya, Sanyal, Sereda, & Lindenschmidt, 2019). In addition to serving as an important research tool, ecosystem simulation models can also be used for educational purposes and provide a practical way for students to conduct ecosystem‐scale scientific inquiry and practice systems thinking in a classroom setting (Gilbert & Justí, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrosystems EDDIE teaching modules significantly increase ecology students' proficiency and confidence working with ecosystem models and use of systems thinking

Carey

Farrell

Hounshell

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These projected changes in the hydrological regime along with the effects of warming temperatures can have important effects on riverine and deltaic ecosystems. Increased air temperature, augmented winter flows, earlier melt events, and lower summer flows, as projected here, are expected to change conditions and habitat suitability that may, for example, favour generalist (often exotic) fresh water species over specialist (often endemic) species (Morales‐Marín, Rokaya, Sanyal, Sereda, & Lindenschmidt, ; Wrona et al, ). However, further integrated hydro‐ecological studies are required to assess the vulnerability of existing fresh water species to the changing climate and flow regimes.…”

Section: Concluding Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of future climate on the hydrology of a northern headwaters basin and its implications for a downstream deltaic ecosystem

Rokaya

Peters

Elshamy

et al. 2020

Hydrological Processes

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anthropogenic and climatic‐induced changes to flow regimes pose significant risks to river systems. Northern rivers and their deltas are particularly vulnerable due to the disproportionate warming of the Northern Hemisphere compared with the Southern Hemisphere. Of special interest is the Peace–Athabasca Delta (PAD) in western Canada, a productive deltaic lake and wetland ecosystem, which has been recognized as a Ramsar site. Both climate‐ and regulation‐induced changes to the hydrological regime of the Peace River have raised concerns over the delta's ecological health. With the damming of the headwaters, the role of downstream unregulated tributaries has become more important in maintaining, to a certain degree, a natural flow regime, particularly during open‐water conditions. However, their flow contributions to the mainstem river under future climatic conditions remain largely uncertain. In this study, we first evaluated the ability of a land‐surface hydrological model to simulate hydro‐ecological relevant indicators, highlighting the model's strengths and weaknesses. Then, we investigated the streamflow conditions in the Smoky River, the largest unregulated tributary of the Peace River, in the 2071–2100 versus the 1981–2010 periods. Our modelling results revealed significant changes in the hydrological regime of the Smoky River, such as increased discharge in winter (+190%) and spring (+130%) but reduced summer flows (−33%) in the 2071–2100 period compared with the baseline period, which will have implications for the sustainability of the downstream PAD. In particular, the projected reductions in 30‐day and 90‐day maximum flows in the Smoky River will affect open‐water flooding, which is important in maintaining lake levels and connectivity to perimeter delta wetlands in the Peace sector of the PAD. The evaluation of breakup and freeze‐up flows for the 2071–2100 period showed mixed implications for the ice‐jam flooding, which is essential for recharging high‐elevation deltaic basins. Thus, despite projected increase in annual and spring runoff in the 2071–2100 period from the Smoky sub‐basin, the sustainability of the PAD still remains uncertain.

show abstract

Changes in streamflow and water temperature affect fish habitat in the Athabasca River basin in the context of climate change

Cited by 41 publications

References 67 publications

Regional, multi-decadal analysis reveals that stream temperature increases faster than air temperature

Regional, multi-decadal analysis reveals that stream temperature increases faster than air temperature

Macrosystems EDDIE teaching modules significantly increase ecology students' proficiency and confidence working with ecosystem models and use of systems thinking

Impacts of future climate on the hydrology of a northern headwaters basin and its implications for a downstream deltaic ecosystem

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About