Heat Budget and Statistical Analysis of the Relationship between Stream Temperature and Riparian Forest in the Toikanbetsu River Basin, Northern Japan

Abstract

Riparian forests greatly influence aquatic ecosystems by providing shade cover, which controls water temperature and limits primary production. We examined the relationship between forest cover and summer stream temperature in northernmost Japan. Heat budget and statistical analyses were employed and the results were compared. Heat budget analysis revealed that the water temperature would decrease almost linearly from 29°C to 25°C with an increase in forested reaches along a 3.2 km stretch of the river. Multiple regression analysis by the stepwise method chose only open channel length as a variable to explain the variation in maximum stream temperature. A sharp increase in stream temperature was noted when riparian forest cover was removed in short lengths, of up to 1.0km; this increasing trend gradually flattened as the length of open stretch increased. Thus, even small openings in the riparian canopy resulted in drastic rises in summer stream temperature. The maximum summer temperatures estimated by the two methods were coincided, and can therefore be accurately estimated by regression analysis. Retrospective analysis based on the regression equation showed that the maximum summer temperature in 1947 was 6°C lower than at present, and that a sharp increase occurred from 1947 to 1960, a period of rapid expansion of agricultural land development in the watershed.