Monitoring stream temperatures—A guide for non-specialists

Heck, Michael P.; Schultz, Luke D.; Hockman-Wert, David; Dinger, Eric C.; Dunham, Jason B.

doi:10.3133/tm3a25

Cited by 11 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…We measured stream temperatures using digital temperature sensors (a combination of Onset Hobo Water Temperature Pro v2 and TidbiT Water Temperature Data Loggers, Onset Computer Corporation, Bourne, MA USA). Before deployment we checked that all sensors were properly calibrated following Heck et al [ 46 ]. We protected sensors from solar radiation using solar shields constructed from 5 cm diameter polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe ~13cm in length.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shade, light, and stream temperature responses to riparian thinning in second-growth redwood forests of northern California

Roon

Dunham

Groom³

2021

PLoS ONE

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Resource managers in the Pacific Northwest (USA) actively thin second-growth forests to accelerate the development of late-successional conditions and seek to expand these restoration thinning treatments into riparian zones. Riparian forest thinning, however, may impact stream temperatures–a key water quality parameter often regulated to protect stream habitat and aquatic organisms. To better understand the effects of riparian thinning on shade, light, and stream temperature, we employed a manipulative field experiment following a replicated Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) design in three watersheds in the redwood forests of northern California, USA. Thinning treatments were intended to reduce canopy closure or basal area within the riparian zone by up to 50% on both sides of the stream channel along a 100–200 m stream reach. We found that responses to thinning ranged widely depending on the intensity of thinning treatments. In the watersheds with more intensive treatments, thinning reduced shade, increased light, and altered stream thermal regimes in thinned and downstream reaches. Thinning shifted thermal regimes by increasing maximum temperatures, thermal variability, and the frequency and duration of elevated temperatures. These thermal responses occurred primarily during summer but also extended into spring and fall. Longitudinal profiles indicated that increases in temperature associated with thinning frequently persisted downstream, but downstream effects depended on the magnitude of upstream temperature increases. Model selection analyses indicated that local changes in shade as well as upstream thermal conditions and proximity to upstream treatments explained variation in stream temperature responses to thinning. In contrast, in the study watershed with less intensive thinning, smaller changes in shade and light resulted in minimal stream temperature responses. Collectively, our data shed new light on the stream thermal responses to riparian thinning. These results provide relevant information for managers considering thinning as a viable restoration strategy for second-growth riparian forests.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shade, light, and stream temperature responses to riparian thinning in second-growth redwood forests of northern California

Roon

Dunham

Groom³

2021

PLoS ONE

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“…However, our comparisons are valid and useful for the purposes here. Field data collection followed protocols described by Heck et al [15] and Schultz et al [14]. Stream and air temperature measurements were recorded hourly with HOBO U-22 (Onset Computer Corporation, Bourne, MA, USA) waterproof temperature data loggers.…”

Section: Field Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Statistical Method to Predict Flow Permanence in Dryland Streams from Time Series of Stream Temperature

Arisméndi

Dunham

Heck

et al. 2017

Water

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Intermittent and ephemeral streams represent more than half of the length of the global river network. Dryland freshwater ecosystems are especially vulnerable to changes in human-related water uses as well as shifts in terrestrial climates. Yet, the description and quantification of patterns of flow permanence in these systems is challenging mostly due to difficulties in instrumentation. Here, we took advantage of existing stream temperature datasets in dryland streams in the northwest Great Basin desert, USA, to extract critical information on climate-sensitive patterns of flow permanence. We used a signal detection technique, Hidden Markov Models (HMMs), to extract information from daily time series of stream temperature to diagnose patterns of stream drying. Specifically, we applied HMMs to time series of daily standard deviation (SD) of stream temperature (i.e., dry stream channels typically display highly variable daily temperature records compared to wet stream channels) between April and August (2015-2016). We used information from paired stream and air temperature data loggers as well as co-located stream temperature data loggers with electrical resistors as confirmatory sources of the timing of stream drying. We expanded our approach to an entire stream network to illustrate the utility of the method to detect patterns of flow permanence over a broader spatial extent. We successfully identified and separated signals characteristic of wet and dry stream conditions and their shifts over time. Most of our study sites within the entire stream network exhibited a single state over the entire season (80%), but a portion of them showed one or more shifts among states (17%). We provide recommendations to use this approach based on a series of simple steps. Our findings illustrate a successful method that can be used to rigorously quantify flow permanence regimes in streams using existing records of stream temperature.

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“…The maximum number of consecutive days the maximum daily water temperature exceeded threshold values Duration (n) [70] were also calculated to quantify how may days of the year aquatic species were exposed to thermal stress (Table 3). Water temperature metrics to quantify magnitude of change included moving average of daily maximum temperature (MovingAMaxT) for 7, 14, and 21 days, and average of daily maximum water temperature per month (Monthly ADMax) [62,73,74]. Water temperature metrics to quantify variability included maximum range per month (greatest value per month for difference between daily maximum and minimum temperature), and variance of the mean daily water temperature for each month [22,62,73,74] (Table 3).…”

Section: Water Temperature Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Water temperature metrics to quantify magnitude of change included moving average of daily maximum temperature (MovingAMaxT) for 7, 14, and 21 days, and average of daily maximum water temperature per month (Monthly ADMax) [62,73,74]. Water temperature metrics to quantify variability included maximum range per month (greatest value per month for difference between daily maximum and minimum temperature), and variance of the mean daily water temperature for each month [22,62,73,74] (Table 3). Average daily max, April to October [62] Max range per month Greatest value for difference between daily max and daily min temperature per month [70] Monthly variance Variance of mean daily temperatures [22] 2.4.…”

Section: Water Temperature Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The total number of days that the daily maximum temperature exceeded the thermal stress water temperature (FmaxcT) for rainbow trout (≥20 °C) [73] ranged from 76 to 142 days, and 0 to 80 days for virile crayfish (≥25 °C) [71] at study sites. In addition, the total This consistency of significant correlations was not the case for relationships between water temperature and percent impervious cover in the 5 m riparian area that had three significant correlations with water temperature metrics (0.7 to 0.8, p ≤ 0.01 to 0.00), and the percent impervious surface in the 30 m riparian area that had four significant correlations to water temperature metrics (0.7 to 0.9, p ≤ 0.01 to 0.00).…”

Section: Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Riparian Land Cover, Water Temperature Variability, and Thermal Stress for Aquatic Species in Urban Streams

Timm

Ouellet

Daniels

2021

Water

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Thermal regime warming and increased variability can result in human developed watersheds due to runoff over impervious surfaces and influence of stormwater pipes. This study quantified relationships between tree canopy, impervious surface, and water temperature in stream sites with 4 to 62% impervious land cover in their “loggersheds” to predict water temperature metrics relevant to aquatic species thermal stress thresholds. This study identified significant (≥0.7, p < 0.05) negative correlations between water temperature and percent tree canopy in the 5 m riparian area and positive correlations between water temperature and total length of stormwater pipe in the loggershed. Mixed-effects models predicted that tree canopy cover in the 5 m riparian area would reduce water temperatures 0.01 to 6 °C and total length of stormwater pipes in the loggershed would increase water temperatures 0.01 to 2.6 °C. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the relationship between stormwater pipes and water temperature metrics has been explored to better understand thermal dynamics in urban watersheds. The results highlight important aspects of thermal habitat quality and water temperature variability for aquatic species living in urban streams based on thermal thresholds relevant to species metabolism, growth, and life history.

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Monitoring stream temperatures—A guide for non-specialists

Cited by 11 publications

References 12 publications

Shade, light, and stream temperature responses to riparian thinning in second-growth redwood forests of northern California

Shade, light, and stream temperature responses to riparian thinning in second-growth redwood forests of northern California

A Statistical Method to Predict Flow Permanence in Dryland Streams from Time Series of Stream Temperature

Riparian Land Cover, Water Temperature Variability, and Thermal Stress for Aquatic Species in Urban Streams

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