Thresholds of flow‐induced bed disturbances and their effects on stream metabolism in an agricultural river

O’Connor, Ben L.; Harvey, J. W.; McPhillips, Lauren

doi:10.1029/2011wr011488

Cited by 50 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 68 publications

(95 reference statements)

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“…The input of low O 2 from groundwater could make it appear that ER is higher and this would be associated with cooler temperatures. There was no correlation between ER and NEP with water depth or discharge even though other studies showed that increased scour of the streambed leads to a reduction in respiration (Atkinson et al 2008;O'Connor et al 2012). Young et al (2008) point out the ER would not likely be correlated with PAR since respiration may be most influenced by heterotrophic organisms, although Benson et al (2013) indicate that ER was positively related to PAR in their arctic streams since much of the respiration is likely due to metabolism by autotrophs.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 38%

“…Atkinson et al (2008) showed that sediment scour decreases both periphyton production but they also found that this lead to lower GPP. O'Connor et al (2012) found that even small storm pulses can induce partial bed mobilization resulting in increased turbidity and a reduction in GPP. Hondzo et al (2013) demonstrated that shear stress had a more significant impact on GPP than ER.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The influence of riparian vegetation and season on stream metabolism of Valley Creek, Minnesota

Hornbach

Beckel

Hustad

et al. 2015

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

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Climate change will undoubtedly influence stream ecosystems by affecting water temperature, discharge, and riparian vegetation phenology. It has been suggested that increasing the extent of riparian buffers may help to mitigate these impacts and contribute to ecosystem resilience. Measures of stream metabolism are one way to examine the changes in ecosystem function as they respond to climate change and management strategies used to respond to these impacts. In this study we examine the influence of riparian vegetation (open vs. forest) and season on ecosystem metabolism in a small stream in MN, USA. The stream was heterotrophic regardless of the type of riparian vegetation but the presence of a forested buffer depressed gross primary production (GPP) and also resulted in lower (less negative) ecosystem respiration (ER) and net ecosystem production (NEP). We also found significant daily and seasonal variation in GPP, ER, and NEP. Stream metabolism was more variable in the fall than in the summer. The study design was complicated by the fact that there were differences in groundwater dynamics between the two locations; the forested location was a losing stream while the open location was a gaining stream. Despite the fact that groundwater input likely influenced the oxygen dynamics of the open location, the impact of the forest buffer outweighed the impact of groundwater. The presence of a forested riparian corridor resulted in decreased GPP likely through the attenuation of light. The low O 2 groundwater input at the open location likely biased measures of ER and NEP. Modifying stream corridors with increased forest vegetation to offset the impacts of climate change will likely result in less in-stream primary production and a shift to a more heterotrophic system. This shift will undoubtedly influence many ecosystem functions in-stream systems.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 38%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of riparian vegetation and season on stream metabolism of Valley Creek, Minnesota

Hornbach

Beckel

Hustad

et al. 2015

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

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“…In general, agriculturally influenced streams have elevated rates of GPP and ER compared to streams in relatively pristine watersheds (Young and Huryn 1999, McTammany et al 2003, Bernot et al 2010. Hydrology can also influence metabolism by deliver- ing and mobilizing sediments and by disturbing algal populations during storm flows (Morgan et al 2006, O'Connor et al 2012). However, we do not know how the presence of floodplains and occurrence of storm flows interact to influence metabolism metrics, particularly in agricultural streams where both flow and floodplain connectivity have been altered.…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

The influence of floodplain restoration on whole-stream metabolism in an agricultural stream: insights from a 5-year continuous data set

et al. 2014

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Channelized streams are common in North American agricultural regions, where they minimize water residence time and biological nutrient processing. Floodplain restoration done via the 2-stage-ditch management strategy can improve channel stability and nutrient retention during storms. We examined the influence of floodplain restoration on whole-stream metabolism by measuring gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) for 1 y before and 4 y after restoration of an upstream, unaltered control reach and a downstream, restored reach. Both reaches were biologically active and dynamic. GPP ranged from 0.1 to 22.1 g O 2 m −2 d −1 , and ecosystem respiration (ER) rates ranged from −0.1 to −38.7 g O 2 m −2 d −1 . We used time-series analysis and found that GPP increased postrestoration during floodplain inundation when expressed per unit length, but not per unit area, of stream. GPP was more resilient post-than prerestoration and returned to prestorm levels more quickly after than before floodplain construction. In contrast, the floodplain restoration had no effect on ER or on any metric of metabolism during base flow. Overall, we showed that floodplainstream linkages can be important regulators of metabolism in restored agricultural streams.

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“…However, the disturbances in oxygen concentration could also be initiated during the storm preceding the backwater. As pointed by O'Connor et al (2012) storms lead to bed disturbances and increase turbidity, which eventually disrupt stream metabolism. Moreover, as was reported in other studies, characteristics of these abiotic factors, particularly the timing, frequency, magnitude, duration and rate of change of hydrologic conditions shape riverine communities (Bayley, 1991;Junk et al, 1989;Poff and Ward, 1989;Poff et al, 1997).…”

Section: Do Fluctuations At Short Timescalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissolved oxygen and water temperature dynamics in lowland rivers over various timescales

Rajwa-Kuligiewicz

Bialik

Rowiński

2015

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

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Abstract:The impact of floodplain hydrology on the in-stream dissolved oxygen dynamics and the relation between dissolved oxygen and water temperature are investigated. This has been done by examining the time series of dissolved oxygen and water temperature coupled with meteorological and hydrological data obtained from two lowland rivers having contrasting hydrological settings. Spectral analysis of long-term oxygen variations in a vegetated river revealed a distinct scaling regime with slope '-1' indicating a self-similar behaviour. Identical slopes were obtained for water temperature and water level. The same power-law behaviour was observed for an unvegetated river at small timescales revealing the underlying scaling behaviour of dissolved oxygen regime for different types of rivers and over various time scales. The results have shown that the oxygenation of a vegetated river is strongly related to its thermal regime and flow conditions. Moreover, analysis of short-term fluctuations in the unvegetated river demonstrated that physical factors such as rainfall and backwaters play a substantial role in the functioning of this ecosystem. Finally, the results show that the relation between water temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration at the diurnal timescale exhibits a looping behaviour on the variable plot. The findings of this study provide an insight into the sensitivity of rivers to changing hydro-physical conditions and can be useful in the assessment of environmental variability.

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Thresholds of flow‐induced bed disturbances and their effects on stream metabolism in an agricultural river

Cited by 50 publications

References 68 publications

The influence of riparian vegetation and season on stream metabolism of Valley Creek, Minnesota

The influence of riparian vegetation and season on stream metabolism of Valley Creek, Minnesota

The influence of floodplain restoration on whole-stream metabolism in an agricultural stream: insights from a 5-year continuous data set

Dissolved oxygen and water temperature dynamics in lowland rivers over various timescales

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