Linking landscape variables to cold water refugia in rivers

Monk, Wendy; Wilbur, Nathan M.; Curry, R. Allen; Gagnon, Rolland; Faux, Russell N.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.12.024

Cited by 46 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Termed thermal refuges (Torgersen, Ebersole, & Keenan, 2012;Torgersen, Price, Li, & McIntosh, 1999), recent studies have documented their use by Atlantic salmon for thermoregulation (Breau, Cunjak, & Peake, 2011;Breau et al, 2007;Cunjak et al, 2005). In recent years, rivers in North America have increasingly experienced summer water temperatures in excess of the upper critical threshold temperature for Atlantic salmon (~23°C; Jonsson & Jonsson, 2009;Jeong, Daigle, & St-Hilaire, 2013;Dugdale, Bergeron, & St-Hilaire, 2013;Monk, Wilbur, Curry, Gagnon, & Faux, 2013) and future climate change scenarios indicate that this trend will continue (Arnell & Reynard, 1996;Elliott & Elliott, 2010;Ficke et al, 2007;Graham & Harrod, 2009). It is therefore likely that thermal refuges will be increasingly important in ensuring the provision of cool water habitat used by salmon and other cold water fishes for the reduction of temperaturerelated mortalities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…McCullough et al, 2009;Torgersen et al, 2012;Dugdale et al, 2013;Monk et al, 2013). Given that the position and abundance of thermal refuges directly affect the accessibility of cold water to salmonids, knowledge of their spatial distribution and the processes governing it is of key concern.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, these did not examine the processes driving thermal refuges and their spatial distributions at large scales. More recently, Monk et al (2013) analysed the landscape variables controlling cold tributary refuges in the Cains River basin, New Brunswick. The study demonstrated a clear link between the temperature of tributary thermal refuges and a range of physical environmental variables (eg.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…refuge position in watershed, catchment gradient/elevation, soil type, forest type, presence of wetlands). However, given that the aim of their investigation was to model tributary temperatures (Monk et al, 2013), other types of thermal refuge were not analysed and there remains a clear lack of knowledge regarding their spatial variability and driving mechanisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, recent developments in geographical information systems (GIS) technology coupled with increases in computing power and data storage capacity have started to allow for studies linking landscapes to river ecosystems in the spirit of the riverscape concept (eg. Carbonneau, Fonstad, Marcus, Dugdale, 2012;Fausch et al, 2002;Johnson & Host, 2010;Monk et al, 2013;Vannote, Minshall, Cummins, Sedell, & Cushing, 1980;Ward, 1998;Wiens, 2002). Through combining such GIS-derived landscape metrics with thermal infrared mapping of the riverscape, it is now possible to conduct a detailed examination of thermal refuges and of the fundamental processes driving their spatial distribution and density across an entire watershed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial distribution of thermal refuges analysed in relation to riverscape hydromorphology using airborne thermal infrared imagery

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial distribution of thermal refuges analysed in relation to riverscape hydromorphology using airborne thermal infrared imagery

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Climate change impacts on the temperature and magnitude of groundwater discharge from shallow, unconfined aquifers

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MacQuarrie

Voss

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Cold groundwater discharge to streams and rivers can provide critical thermal refuge for threatened salmonids and other aquatic species during warm summer periods. Climate change may influence groundwater temperature and flow rates, which may in turn impact riverine ecosystems. This study evaluates the potential impact of climate change on the timing, magnitude, and temperature of groundwater discharge from small, unconfined aquifers that undergo seasonal freezing and thawing. Seven downscaled climate scenarios for 2046-2065 were utilized to drive surficial water and energy balance models (HELP3 and ForHyM2) to obtain future projections for daily ground surface temperature and groundwater recharge. These future surface conditions were then applied as boundary conditions to drive subsurface simulations of variably saturated groundwater flow and energy transport. The subsurface simulations were performed with the U.S. Geological Survey finite element model SUTRA that was recently modified to include the dynamic freeze-thaw process. The SUTRA simulations indicate a potential rise in the magnitude (up to 34%) and temperature (up to 3.6 C) of groundwater discharge to the adjacent river during the summer months due to projected increases in air temperature and precipitation. The thermal response of groundwater to climate change is shown to be strongly dependent on the aquifer dimensions. Thus, the simulations demonstrate that the thermal sensitivity of aquifers and baseflow-dominated streams to decadal climate change may be more complex than previously thought. Furthermore, the results indicate that the probability of exceeding critical temperature thresholds within groundwater-sourced thermal refugia may significantly increase under the most extreme climate scenarios.

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Landform features and seasonal precipitation predict shallow groundwater influence on temperature in headwater streams

Johnson

Snyder

Hitt

2017

Water Resources Research

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Headwater stream responses to climate change will depend in part on groundwater‐surface water exchanges. We used linear modeling techniques to partition likely effects of shallow groundwater seepage and air temperature on stream temperatures for 79 sites in nine focal watersheds using hourly air and water temperature measurements collected during summer months from 2012 to 2015 in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA. Shallow groundwater effects exhibited more variation within watersheds than between them, indicating the importance of reach‐scale assessments and the limited capacity to extrapolate upstream groundwater influences from downstream measurements. Boosted regression tree (BRT) models revealed intricate interactions among geomorphological landform features (stream slope, elevation, network length, contributing area, and channel confinement) and seasonal precipitation patterns (winter, spring, and summer months) that together were robust predictors of spatial and temporal variation in groundwater influence on stream temperatures. The final BRT model performed well for training data and cross‐validated samples (correlation = 0.984 and 0.760, respectively). Geomorphological and precipitation predictors of groundwater influence varied in their importance between watersheds, suggesting differences in spatial and temporal controls of recharge dynamics and the depth of the groundwater source. We demonstrate an application of the final BRT model to predict groundwater effects from landform and precipitation covariates at 1075 new sites distributed at 100 m increments within focal watersheds. Our study provides a framework to estimate effects of groundwater seepage on stream temperature in unsampled locations. We discuss applications for climate change research to account for groundwater‐surface water interactions when projecting future thermal thresholds for stream biota.

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Linking landscape variables to cold water refugia in rivers

Cited by 46 publications

References 37 publications

Spatial distribution of thermal refuges analysed in relation to riverscape hydromorphology using airborne thermal infrared imagery

Spatial distribution of thermal refuges analysed in relation to riverscape hydromorphology using airborne thermal infrared imagery

Climate change impacts on the temperature and magnitude of groundwater discharge from shallow, unconfined aquifers

Landform features and seasonal precipitation predict shallow groundwater influence on temperature in headwater streams

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