Abstract
AbstractThe influence of riparian woodland on stream temperature, micro‐climate and energy exchange was investigated over seven calendar years. Continuous data were collected from two reaches of the Girnock Burn (a tributary of the Aberdeenshire Dee, Scotland) with contrasting land use characteristics: (1) semi‐natural riparian forest and (2) open moorland. In the moorland reach, wind speed and energy fluxes (especially net radiation, latent heat and sensible heat) varied considerably between years because of variable riparian micro‐climate coupled strongly to prevailing meteorological conditions. In the forested reach, riparian vegetation sheltered the stream from meteorological conditions that produced a moderated micro‐climate and thus energy exchange conditions, which were relatively stable between years. Net energy gains (losses) in spring and summer (autumn and winter) were typically greater in the moorland than the forest. However, when particularly high latent heat loss or low net radiation gain occurred in the moorland, net energy gain (loss) was less than that in the forest during the spring and summer (autumn and winter) months. Spring and summer water temperature was typically cooler in the forest and characterised by less inter‐annual variability due to reduced, more inter‐annually stable energy gain in the forested reach. The effect of riparian vegetation on autumn and winter water temperature dynamics was less clear because of the confounding effects of reach‐scale inflows of thermally stable groundwater in the moorland reach, which strongly influenced the local heat budget. These findings provide new insights as to the hydrometeorological conditions under which semi‐natural riparian forest may be effective in mitigating river thermal variability, notably peaks, under present and future climates. © 2014 The Authors. Hydrological Processes published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Highlights
IntroductionThermal dynamics in streams are driven by energy and hydrological fluxes at the air–water and water–riverbed interfaces (Gu and Li, 2002; Hannah et al, 2004; Malcolm et al, 2004a) and may be modified by land and water management (Poole and Berman, 2001; Webb et al, 2003; Webb and Nobilis, 2007; Hannah et al, 2008)
Results are presented in three sections: (1) characterisation of the study period within a longer-term climatic context, (2) inter-annual variability in water column temperature, riparian micro-climate and net energy exchange (sum of all fluxes in Equation (1)) both at, and between, reaches (Hypotheses 1 and 2), and (3) hydrometeorological drivers of inter-annual variability in net energy exchange (Hypothesis 3)
This study represents an important addition to the existing literature on the effects of riparian woodland on stream temperature
Summary
Thermal dynamics in streams are driven by energy and hydrological fluxes at the air–water and water–riverbed interfaces (Gu and Li, 2002; Hannah et al, 2004; Malcolm et al, 2004a) and may be modified by land and water management (Poole and Berman, 2001; Webb et al, 2003; Webb and Nobilis, 2007; Hannah et al, 2008). In North America, ‘best’ management practice is to protect streams against direct
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