Climate change and resilience of tributary thermal refugia for salmonids in eastern Canadian rivers

Abstract

River water temperature regimes are expected to change along with climate over the next decades. This work focuses on three important salmon rivers of eastern Canada, two of which warm up most summers to temperatures higher than the Atlantic salmon lethal limit (>28°C). Water temperature was monitored at 53 sites on the three basins during 2–18 summers, with about half of these sites either known or potential thermal refugia for salmon. Site-specific statistical models predicting water temperature, based on 10 different climate scenarios, were developed in order to assess how many of these sites will remain cool enough to serve as refugia in the future (2046–2065). The results indicate that, while 19 of the 23 identified refugia will persist, important increases in the occurrence and duration of temperature events in excess of 24°C and 28°C, respectively, in the mainstems of the rivers, will lead to higher demands for thermal refugia in the salmonid populations.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor T. Okruszko     

Invertebrate colonization of leaves and roots within sediments of intermittent Coastal Plain streams across hydrologic phases

Ecological flows between habitats are vital for predicting and understanding structure and function of recipient systems. Ecological flows across riparian areas and headwater intermittent streams are likely to be especially important in many river networks because of the shear extent of these interfaces, their high edge-to-width ratio, and the alternation of wet and dry conditions in intermittent channels. While there has been substantial research supporting the importance of riparian-stream linkages above-ground, comparatively less research has investigated below-ground linkages. We tested the hypothesis that riparian roots are colonized by invertebrates as a food source within stream beds of intermittent headwater streams. We compared benthic invertebrate assemblages colonizing three types of buried substrates (leaves, roots, and plastic roots) among three intermittent Coastal Plain streams, each with a different riparian management treatment (clearcut, thinned, and reference), over a 1-year period. Invertebrate density was significantly lower in root litterbags than in plastic roots litterbags, but neither differed from densities in leaf litterbags. Total invertebrate abundances, however, were significantly higher in leaf and root litterbags compared to abundances in plastic root litterbags. Invertebrate biomass and richness did not vary among substrates, but invertebrate density, abundance, and richness all declined from the wet phase (September–December) through the dry phase (June–August). Meiofauna and aquatic dipterans were the primary colonizing invertebrates during the wet phase. Relative abundance of terrestrial taxa increased during the dry phase, but their absolute abundance remained lower than aquatic taxa during the wet phase. Invertebrate composition did not differ among substrate types, but was significantly different among streams and time periods. Cumulative number of dry days, degree days, and redox depth all strongly correlated with assemblage structure as indicated by ordination scores. Our results suggest that subsurface invertebrates respond to leaves and roots as food sources, but assemblage composition is not substrate specific. Colonization of leaves and roots within stream beds by aquatic and terrestrial taxa supports the idea that headwater intermittent streams are important interfaces for the reciprocal exchange of energy and materials between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.     

Invertebrate and microbial responses to inundation in an ephemeral river reach in New Zealand: effects of preceding dry periods

Inundation marks the shift from a terrestrial ecosystem to an aquatic ecosystem in ephemeral rivers. The forms and rates of responses by aquatic invertebrates and sediment microbes to inundation depend on desiccation resistance during preceding dry periods. We assessed invertebrate and microbial responses to inundation over a range of preceding dry periods in an ephemeral reach of the Selwyn River, New Zealand. Microbial response variables were dissolved oxygen consumption and non-specific esterase activity. Sampling sites along the reach had been continuously dry for 1–592 d prior to sample collection. The onset of flow simulated by an experimental inundation led to the appearance of aquatic invertebrates in all samples, but the assemblages varied with the length of the preceding dry period. Taxon richness decreased linearly with dry period length while density decreased exponentially. These patterns indicate that a large number of individuals from desiccation-sensitive taxa were eliminated soon after flow ceased, and a low-density assemblage composed of a small number of desiccation-resistant taxa persisted during prolonged dry periods. As with invertebrate density, sediment respiration and nonspecific esterase activity decreased with length of dry period, and were characterized by exponential decay functions. The results of the inundation experiments suggest that a temporal ecotone exists for about one week after the disappearance of flowing water, and before the terrestrial system stabilizes.     

Flow resistance and hydraulic geometry in bedrock rivers with multiple roughness length scales

Many models of incision by bedrock rivers predict water depth and shear stress from discharge; conversely, palaeoflood discharge is sometimes reconstructed from flow depth markers in rock gorges. In both cases, assumptions are made about flow resistance. The depth–discharge relation in a bedrock river must depend on at least two roughness length scales (exposed rock and sediment cover) and possibly a third (sidewalls). A conceptually attractive way to model the depth–discharge relation in such situations is to partition the total shear stress and friction factor, but it is not obvious how to quantify the friction factor for rough walls in a way that can be used in incision process models. We show that a single flow resistance calculation using a spatially averaged roughness length scale closely approximates the partitioning of stress between sediment and rock, and between bed and walls, in idealized scenarios. Both approaches give closer fits to the measured depth–discharge relations in two small bedrock reaches than can be achieved using a fixed value of Manning's n or the Chézy friction factor. Sidewalls that are substantially rougher or smoother than the bed have a significant effect on the partitioning of shear stress between bed and sidewalls. More research is needed on how best to estimate roughness length scales from observable or measurable channel characteristics. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determining hydraulic resistance in gravel‐bed rivers from the dynamics of their water surfaces

Traditionally, approaches to account for the effect of the boundary roughness of a gravel‐bed river have used a grain‐size index of the bed surface as a surrogate for hydraulic resistance. The use of a single grain‐size does not take into account the spatial heterogeneity in the bed surface and how this heterogeneity imparts resistance on the flow, nor the way in which this relationship changes with variables such as flow stage. A new technique to remotely quantify hydraulic resistance is proposed. It is based on measuring the dynamics of a river's water surface and relating this to the actual hydraulic resistance created by a rough sediment boundary. The water surface dynamics are measured using a new acoustic technique, grazing angle sound propagation (GRASP). This proposed method to measure hydraulic resistance is based on a greater degree of physical reasoning, and this is discussed in the letter. By measuring acoustically the temporal dynamics of turbulent water surfaces over a water‐worked gravel bed in a laboratory flume, a dependency is demonstrated between the temporal variation in the reflected acoustic pressure and measured hydraulic resistance. It is shown that the standard deviation in acoustic pressure decreases with increasing hydraulic resistance. This is shown to apply for a range of relative submergences and bed slopes that are typical of gravel‐bed rivers. This remote sensing technique is both rapid and inexpensive, and has the potential to be applied to natural river channels and to other environmental turbulent flows, such as overland flows. A whole new class of low‐cost, remote and non‐intrusive instruments could be developed as a result and used in a wide range of hydraulic and hydrological applications. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of flow resistance in gravel-bedded rivers: A physical explanation of the multiplier of roughness length

The need to estimate velocity and discharge indirectly in gravel-bedded rivers is a commonly-encountered problem. Semilogarithmic friction equations are used to estimate mean velocity using a friction factor obtained from depth and grain size information. Although such equations have a semi-theoretical basis, in natural gravel-bed channels, an empirical constant (6.8 or 3.5) has to be introduced to scale-up the characteristic grain size (D₅₀ or D₈₄) to represent the effective roughness length. In this paper, two contrasting approaches are used to suggest that the multiplier of characteristic grain size is attributable to the effect of small-scale form resistance, reflecting the occurrence of microtopographic bedforms in gravel-bedded environments. First, spatial elevation dependence in short, detailed bed profiles from a single gravel-bedded river is investigated using semivariogram and zero-crossing analyses. This leads to objective identification of two discrete scales of bed roughness, associated with grain and microtopographic roughness elements. Second, the autocorrelation structure of the three-dimensional near-bed velocity field is examined to identify regularities associated with eddy shedding and energy losses from larger grains and microtopographic bedforms. Apart from improving the capacity to determine friction factors for velocity and discharge estimation, the findings have implications in general for the initial motion of gravelly bed material.     

A hierarchical generalized linear model with variable selection: studying the response of a representative fish assemblage for large European rivers in a multi-pressure context

Global change calls for an understanding of how temperature and flow regimes influence aquatic ecosystems. Fish assemblages are a major component of river ecosystems and are thought to exhibit more integrative informative responses than single species to environmental variations, whether rare and sudden or gradual and continuous. The use of long-term datasets is thus of primary importance, allied to statistical modeling. For each of three previously identified species clusters, we performed Bayesian variable selection and inference within a hierarchical log Poisson Generalized Linear Model using a spike and slab normal prior to pinpoint which subset of environmental variables is of importance for each fish assemblage. Fish counts from electrofishing experiments are known to provide overdispersed data and, not surprisingly, the contribution of recorded environmental effects is found to be weak compared with those of other intra-assemblage sources of variation. The posterior distribution of the regression parameters is in coherence with what was expected from biological knowledge of the three species clusters. In particular, thermophilic species tend to benefit from warmer waters, whereas the recruitment of cold water species decreases due to global warming effects. Our study provides an example of the advantages of hierarchical modeling for quantifying interspecies ecological effects and selecting common environmental variables of importance.     

Hydrological resilience to forest fire in the subarctic Canadian shield

Understanding the role of forest fires on water budgets of subarctic Precambrian Shield catchments is important because of growing evidence that fire activity is increasing. Most research has focused on assessing impacts on individual landscape units, so it is unclear how changes manifest at the catchment scale enough to alter water budgets. The objective of this study was to determine the water budget impact of a forest fire that partially burned a ~450 km² subarctic Precambrian Shield basin. Water budget components were measured in a pair of catchments: one burnt and another unburnt. Burnt and unburnt areas had comparable net radiation, but thaw was deeper in burned areas. There were deeper snow packs in burns. Differences in streamflow between the catchments were within measurement uncertainty. Enhanced winter streamflow from the burned watershed was evident by icing growth at the streamflow gauge location, which was not observed in the unburned catchment. Wintertime water chemistry was also clearly elevated in dissolved organics, and organic-associated nutrients. Application of a framework to assess hydrological resilience of watersheds to wildfire reveal that watersheds with both high bedrock and open water fractions are more resilient to hydrological change after fire in the subarctic shield, and resilience decreases with increasingly climatically wet conditions. This suggests significant changes in runoff magnitude, timing and water chemistry of many Shield catchments following wildfire depend on pre-fire land cover distribution, the extent of the wildfire and climatic conditions that follow the fire.     

Implications of biological and physical diversity for resilience and resistance patterns within Highly Dynamic River Systems

The structure and function of alluvial Highly Dynamic River Systems (HDRS) are driven by highly variable hydrological disturbance regimes, and alternate between resistant, metastable states and resilient, transitional states. These are in turn subject to influences of feedback loops within hydrogeomorphic and biological processes. Here we consider how resistance and resilience largely determine HDRS ecosystem trajectories and how these characteristics can be modified by natural and anthropogenic processes. We review the mechanisms by which biodiversity can affect both resistance and resilience and introduce a conceptual framework that incorporates some unique HDRS characteristics. We suggest that resilient and resistant patterns frequently coexist in the active tract of these river systems, and that this coexistance promotes the return of metastable states after major disturbances. In contrast, highly resistant and poorly resilient patterns dominate at their external boundaries. The loss of these natural dynamics resulting from direct and indirect human impacts causes deviations to resistance and resilience patterns and therefore to HDRS trajectory. We propose that understanding the role of interactions between biological and physical processes that control resistance and resilience is crucial for system restoration and management.     

Refuge habitats for fishes during seasonal drying in an intermittent stream: movement,survival and abundance of three minnow species

Drought and summer drying can be important disturbance events in many small streams leading to intermittent or isolated habitats. We examined what habitats act as refuges for fishes during summer drying, hypothesizing that pools would act as refuge habitats. We predicted that during drying fish would show directional movement into pools from riffle habitats, survival rates would be greater in pools than in riffles, and fish abundance would increase in pool habitats. We examined movement, survival and abundance of three minnow species, bigeye shiner (Notropis boops), highland stoneroller (Campostoma spadiceum) and creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus), during seasonal stream drying in an Ozark stream using a closed robust multi-strata mark-recapture sampling. Population parameters were estimated using plausible models within program MARK, where a priori models are ranked using Akaike’s Information Criterion. Creek chub showed directional movement into pools and increased survival and abundance in pools during drying. Highland stonerollers showed strong directional movement into pools and abundance increased in pools during drying, but survival rates were not significantly greater in pools than riffles. Bigeye shiners showed high movement rates during drying, but the movement was non-directional, and survival rates were greater in riffles than pools. Therefore, creek chub supported our hypothesis and pools appear to act as refuge habitats for this species, whereas highland stonerollers partly supported the hypothesis and bigeye shiners did not support the pool refuge hypothesis. Refuge habitats during drying are species dependent. An urgent need exists to further understand refuge habitats in streams given projected changes in climate and continued alteration of hydrological regimes.     

Channel‐planform evolution in four rivers of Olympic National Park,Washington, USA: the roles of physical drivers and trophic cascades

Identifying the relative contributions of physical and ecological processes to channel evolution remains a substantial challenge in fluvial geomorphology. We use a 74‐year aerial photographic record of the Hoh, Queets, Quinault, and Elwha Rivers, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA, to investigate whether physical or trophic‐cascade‐driven ecological factors – excessive elk impacts after wolves were extirpated a century ago – are the dominant drivers of channel planform in these gravel‐bed rivers. We find that channel width and braiding show strong relationships with recent flood history. All four rivers widened significantly after having been relatively narrow in the 1970s, consistent with increased flood activity since then. Channel planform also reflects sediment‐supply changes, evident from landslide response on the Elwha River. We surmise that the Hoh River, which shows a multi‐decadal trend toward greater braiding, is adjusting to increased sediment supply associated with rapid glacial retreat. These rivers demonstrate transmission of climatic signals through relatively short sediment‐routing systems that lack substantial buffering by sediment storage. Legacy effects of anthropogenic modification likely also affect the Quinault River planform. We infer no correspondence between channel evolution and elk abundance, suggesting that trophic‐cascade effects in this setting are subsidiary to physical controls on channel morphology. Our findings differ from previous interpretations of Olympic National Park fluvial dynamics and contrast with the classic example of Yellowstone National Park, where legacy effects of elk overuse are apparent in channel morphology; we attribute these differences to hydrologic regime and large‐wood availability. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA     

Strontium in rivers of the Baltic Basin

The rivers in the Baltic Basin drain a mixture of bedrocks ranging from Mesozoic-Paleozoic sediments in the south to Proterozoic-Archean intrusives in the north. The rivers in the sedimentary basin in the south have high concentrations of Sr, in the interval 100–500 µg l^–1 while the⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio is close to that of seawater, i.e. 0.71. The northern rivers in the Precambrian shield area on the other hand have low Sr concentrations of 15–50 µg l^–1 with high⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of about to 0.73 (0.721–0.745). The riverine input of dissolved Sr to the brackish Baltic Sea approaches 60 tons year^–1, with a weighted mean concentration approaching 130 µg l^–1 and a weighted mean⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio close to 0.712. Although the sedimentary area in the south supplies only about 43% of the total river discharge, it gives about 88% of the total Sr input. Because of this and the strong regional riverine variation in⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio, Sr and its isotopes seem to be a convenient tool to unveil mixing relations of water masses in the northern Baltic Sea, provided high resolution analyses are applied. For an overall characterization of water mixing in the Baltic Sea, the Nd system will be superior to that of Sr.     

Significance of particle interaction to the modelling of cohesive sediment transport in rivers

Aggregation processes of fine sediments have rarely been integrated in numerical simulations of cohesive sediment transport in riverine systems. These processes, however, can significantly alter the hydrodynamic characteristics of suspended particulate matter (SPM), modifying the particle settling velocity, which is one of the most important parameters in modelling suspended sediment dynamics. The present paper presents data from field measurements and an approach to integrate particle aggregation in a hydrodynamic sediment transport model. The aggregation term used represents the interaction of multiple sediment classes (fractions) with corresponding multiple deposition behaviour. The k–ε–turbulence model was used to calculate the coefficient of vertical turbulent mixing needed for the two‐dimensional vertical‐plane simulations. The model has been applied to transport and deposition of tracer particles and natural SPM in a lake‐outlet lowland river (Spree River, Germany). The results of simulations were evaluated by comparison with field data obtained for two levels of river discharge. Experimental data for both discharge levels showed that under the prevailing uniform hydraulic conditions along the river reach, the settling velocity distribution did not change significantly downstream, whereas the amount of SPM declined. It was also shown that higher flow velocities (higher fluid shear) resulted in higher proportions of fast settling SPM fractions. We conclude that in accordance with the respective prevailing turbulence structures, typical aggregation mechanisms occur that continuously generate similar distribution patterns, including particles that settle toward the river bed and thus mainly contribute to the observed decline in the total SPM concentration. In order to determine time‐scales of aggregation and related mass fluxes between the settling velocity fractions, results of model simulations were fitted to experimental data for total SPM concentration and of settling velocity frequency distributions. The comparison with simulations for the case of non‐interacting fractions clearly demonstrated the practical significance of particle interaction for a more realistic modelling of cohesive sediment and contaminant transport. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changes in the epipelic diatom assemblage in nutrient rich streams due to the variations of simultaneous stressors

Benthic diatoms are often used for assessing environmental conditions, such as water quality and habitat conditions in stream and river systems. Although laboratory experiments have shown that each diatom species have different levels of tolerance to different stressors, few studies have been conducted in laboratory settings that analyze the responses of the diatom assemblage to the effects of multiple simultaneous variables. The aim of this study was to evaluate some structural responses (such as species composition and diversity) of the diatom assemblage on a short time scale to the effects of the simultaneous increase in four variables that are directly linked to the environmental changes affecting the Pampean streams: turbidity, nutrients (phosphorous and nitrogen), water velocity and temperature. To this end we conducted a five-week laboratory experiment using artificial channels where we simulated two environmental conditions (LOW and HIGH) employing epipelic biofilm from a mesotrophic stream. The results obtained in the experiment show that the structure of the diatom assemblage in the epipelic biofilm is affected by the simultaneous modification of temperature, water velocity, nutrient concentration and turbidity. These modifications in the assemblage included moderate decreases in diversity, small decreases in the proportion of species sensitive to eutrophication and saprobity, moderate increases in the IDP (Pampean Diatom Index) values and moderate changes in the percentages of the stalked growth-forms. The relative abundance of species such as Luticola mutica, Navicula cryptocephala and Navicula lanceolata were negatively affected by both treatments; other species such as Planothidium lanceolatum, Caloneis bacillum, Encyonema minutum, Humidophila contenta, Luticola kotschyi, Nitzschia amphibia, Navicula veneta, Pinnularia subcapitata var. subcapitata were positively affected by the HIGH treatment; and Nitzschia fonticola was positively affected by both treatments. The results suggest that, in the very short term of the bioassay conducted, the diatom assemblage can modify its structure to respond in a sensitive manner to the abrupt changes in multiple physical–chemical variables.     

The influence of urbanization on karst rivers based on nutrient concentration and nitrate dual isotopes: an example from southwestern China

China is experiencing rapid urbanization that has changed the water quality of rivers, especially nutrient loads. In this study, a typical urban river located in a karst area, Chengguan River, was chosen to explore the influence of urbanization on river ecosystems based on nutrient concentration and nitrate isotopes. The results show monthly variability of water chemistry and nutrient concentration. Nutrient concentration in two tributaries and the mainstem showed significant spatial variability, with heavy N and P pollution in one tributary near a suburban area,indicating a response to different levels of urbanization.Measurements of nitrate dual isotopes suggest thatvolatilization, assimilation, nitrification, and denitrification all occur in the polluted river. Water chemistry and nitrate isotopes show that major nitrogen sources included domestic waste and agricultural input, such as chemical fertilizer and manure. The results suggest that urbanization increases nutrient concentrations and accelerates the riverine nitrogen dynamic, and point to the need to manage point sources of sewage effluents to improve the water quality of urban rivers in southwestern China.     

Revisiting the morphological method in two-dimensions to quantify bed-material transport in braided rivers

Research in the 1990s showed that bed-material transport rates could be estimated at the reach scale in both one-dimension and, over small spatial scales (10s of m), in two-dimensions. The limit on the latter was the spatial scale over which it was possible to obtain distributed data on morphological change. Here, we revisit the morphological method given progress in both topographical data acquisition and hydraulic modelling. The bed-material transport needed to conserve mass is calculated in both one and two dimensions for a 1600 m × 300 m Alpine braided river “laboratory”. High-resolution topographical data were acquired by laser scanning to quantify Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), and morphological changes caused by the flushing of the water intake were derived from repeated surveys. Based on DEMs of differences, 1D bed-material transport rates were calculated using the morphological method. Then, a 2D hydraulic model was combined with a topographic correction to route sediment through the network of braided channels and to obtain a spatially variable estimate of transport in both downstream and cross-stream directions. Monte Carlo simulation was applied to the routing model parameters, allowing identification of the most probable parameter values needed to minimize negative transport. The results show that within-section spatial compensation of erosion and deposition using the 1D treatment leads to substantial local errors in transport rate estimates, to a degree related to braiding intensity. Even though the 2D application showed that a large proportion of the total transport was actually concentrated into one main channel during the studied low flow event, the proportion of transport in secondary anabranches is substantial when the river starts braiding. Investigations of the effects of DEM resolution, competent flow duration and survey frequency related to ‘travelling bedload’ and sequential erosion-deposition emphasized the critical importance of careful data collection in the application of the morphological method. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Topsoil delivery to Himalayan rivers: the importance of sampling time

Estimates of the amount of topsoil in river sediments can help constrain sediment budgets on decadal time scales. The tracers ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb(ex) are used to determine the proportion of topsoil in river sediments in two Himalayan catchments, a relatively simple but effective method that could be used in many catchments in this complex mountain range for management purposes. Different results are reached, apparently depending upon antecedent conditions, with a large component of topsoil in river sediments likely to be the result of rainfall that erodes hillslopes by sheet and rill processes, does not mobilize or mix with other sources of sediment such as from landslides, and does not generate high river flows to transport the topsoil downstream. These results show that sampling of tracers in sedimentary archives is essential to provide time series of topsoil input to Himalayan rivers to account for high temporal variability. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.