Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Influences of forested watershed conditions on fluctuations in stream water temperature with special reference to watershed area and forest type

  • Research paper
  • Published:
Limnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In order to gain insight into the effect of watershed conditions on fluctuations in stream water temperature, we statistically analyzed water temperature data for 1 year, using root mean square (Rms) and harmonic (A Amplitude, φ delay time) methods. The average values of delay time (days) between air and water temperatures (T a and T w) of small (< 0.5 ha), medium (0.5–100 ha) and large (> 100 ha) watersheds were 4.53 ± 0.82 days, 11.83 ± 3.88 days and 4.45 ± 1.52 days, respectively. Fluctuations in stream water temperature expressed by Rms (Rms T w/Rms T a) and harmonic methods (A −T w/A −T a) in the medium-sized watersheds with moderate slope gradients were 0.37 ± 0.09 and 0.56 ± 0.14, respectively. These values increased in the larger watersheds with low slope gradients, including five large rivers covered by various landscapes, with their averages of 0.53 ± 0.09 and 0.78 ± 0.09, respectively, indicating the influences of solar radiation and heat transfer processes. In the smaller watersheds with high slope gradients, these values were 0.73 ± 0.02 and 0.87 ± 0.03, respectively, suggesting that shorter passage time affected water temperatures. With respect to forest type, these values at badly managed hinoki forest watersheds (0.45 ± 0.04 and 0.73 ± 0.07) were larger than those at broadleaf forest (0.34 ± 0.04 and 0.51 ± 0.12) and well-managed hinoki forest (0.33 ± 0.04 and 0.51 ± 0.07) watersheds, indicating different proportions of flow paths.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arai T, Nishizawa T (1972) Theory of water temperature. Kyoritsu-Shuppan, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartholow JM (1989) Stream temperature investigations: field and analytic methods. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Instream Flow Information, paper no. 13

  • Becker MW, Georgian T, Ambrose H, Siniscalchi J, Fredrick K (2004) Estimating flow and flux of groundwater discharge using water temperature and velocity. J Hydrol 296:221–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogan T, Stefan HG, Mohseni O (2004) Imprints of secondary heat sources on the stream temperature/equilibrium temperature relationship. Water Resour Res 40:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogan T, Stefan HG, Mohseni O (2003) Stream temperature-equilibrium temperature relationship. Water Resour Res 39:1245–1257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonacci O, Trninic D, Roje-Bonacci T (2008) Analysis of the water temperature regime of the Danube and its tributaries in Croatia. Hydrol Process 22:1014–1021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown GW (1969) Predicting temperatures of small streams. Water Resour Res 5:68–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown LE, Hannah DM (2008) Spatial heterogeneity of water temperature across an alpine river basin. Hydrol Process 22:954–967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caissie D (2006) The thermal regime of rivers: a review. Freshw Biol 51:1389–1406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caissie D, El-Jabi N, Satish MG (2001) Modelling of maximum daily water temperatures in a small stream using air temperatures. J Hydrol 251:14–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danehy RJ, Colson CG, Parrett KB, Duke SD (2005) Patterns and sources of thermal heterogeneity in small mountain streams within a forested setting. For Ecol Manag 208:287–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunham J, Schroeter R, Rieman B (2003) Influence of maximum water temperature on occurrence of Lahontan cutthroat trout within streams. North Am J Fish Manag 23:1042–1049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton GJ, Scheller RM (1996) Effects of climate warming on fish thermal habitat in streams of the United States. Limnol Oceanogr 41:1109–1115

    Google Scholar 

  • Edinger JR, Duttweiler DW, Geyer JC (1968) The response of water temperature to meteorological conditions. Water Resour Res 4:1137–1143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson TR, Stefan HG (2000) Linear air/water temperature correlations for streams during open water periods. J Hydrol Eng 5:317–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fukushima T, Ozaki N, Kaminishi H, Harasawa H, Matsushige K (2000) Forecasting the changes in lake water quality in response to climate changes, using past relationships between meteorological conditions and water quality. Hydrol Process 14:593–604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon ND, McMahon TA, Finlayson BL (1992) Stream hydrology: an introduction for ecologists, chap 2. How to study a stream, Wiley, England, pp 17–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Gu RR, Li Y (2002) River temperature sensitivity to hydraulic and meteorological parameters. J Environ Manag 66:43–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gu R, Stefan HG (1985) One dimensional model for water temperature prediction in the lower reach of the Yellow River. International Memorandum No 116:1–33. St Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minn

    Google Scholar 

  • Gu R, McCutcheon S, Chen CJ (1999) Development of weather-dependent flow requirements for river temperature control. Environ Manag 24:529–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herschy RW (1985) Stream measurements, stream flow measurements. Elsevier, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen AJ, Johnsen BO, Saksgard L (1989) Temperature requirements in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), brown trout (Salmo trutta), and Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) from hatching to initial feeding compared with geographic-distribution. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 46:786–789

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambs L (2004) Interactions between groundwater and surface water at river banks and the confluence of rivers. J Hydrol 288:312–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell S (1999) A simple model for estimating mean monthly stream temperature after riparian canopy removal. Environ Manag 24:77–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohseni O, Stefan HG (1999) Stream temperature/air temperature relationship: a physical interpretation. J Hydrol 218:128–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohseni O, Stefan HG, Erickson TR (1998) A non-linear regression model for weekly stream temperatures. Water Resour Res 34:2685–2693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohseni O, Erickson TR, Stefan HG (1999) Sensitivity of stream temperatures in the United States to air temperatures projected under a global warming scenario. Water Resour Res 35:3723–3733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore RD, Spittlehouse DL, Story A (2005) Riparian microclimate and stream temperature response to forest harvesting: a review. J Am Water Resour Assoc 41:813–834

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Driscoll MA, DeWalle DR (2006) Stream-air temperature relations to classify stream-ground water interactions in a karst setting, central Pennsylvania, USA. J Hydrol 329:140–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Onda Y, Yukawa N (1994) The influence of understories and litter layer on the infiltration of forested hillslopes. Proceeding of the international symposium on forest hydrology, Tokyo, October 1994, pp 107–114

  • Onda Y, Tsujimura M, Nonoda T, Takenaka C (2005) Methods for measuring infiltration rate in forest floor in hinoki plantations (in Japanese with English abstract). J Jpn Soc Hydrol Water Resour 18:688–694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ozaki N, Fukushima T, Harasawa H, Kojiri T, Kawashima K, Ono M (2003) Statistical analyses on the effects of air temperature fluctuations on river water qualities. Hydrol Process 17:2837–2853

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pilgrim JM, Fang X, Stefan HG (1998) Stream temperature correlation with air temperature in Minnesota: implications for climate warming. J Am Water Resour Assoc 34:1109–1121

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rutherford JC, Blackett S, Blackett C, Saito L, Colley RJD (1997) Predicting the effects of shade on water temperature in small streams. N Z J Mar Freshw Res 31:707–721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinokrot BA, Gulliver JS (2000) In-stream flow impact on river water temperatures. J Hydraul Res 38:339–349

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinokrot BA, Stefan HG (1993) Stream temperature dynamics: measurement and modeling. Water Resour Res 29:2299–2312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sophocleous M (2002) Interactions between groundwater and surface water: the state of the science. Hydrogeol J 10:52–67

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sridhar V, Sansone AL, LaMarche J, Dubin T, Lettenmaier DP (2004) Prediction of stream temperature in forested watersheds. J Am Water Resour Assoc 40:197–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stefan HG, Preud’homme EB (1993) Stream temperature estimation from air temperature. Water Resour Bull 29:27–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Tani M (1997) Runoff generation processes estimated from hydrological observations on a steep forested hillslope with a thin soil layer. J Hydrol 200:84–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomann RV, Mueller JA (1987) Principles of surface water quality modeling and control, Chapter 9. Temperature. Harper & Row, New York, pp 599–621

    Google Scholar 

  • Tung CP, Lee TY, Yang YC (2006) Modelling climate-change impacts on stream temperature of Formosan landlocked salmon habitat. Hydrol Process 20:1629–1649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uchida T, Asano Y, Onda Y, Miyata S (2005) Are headwaters just the sum of hillslopes? Hydrol Process 19:3251–3261

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • US Geological Survey (2004) Modeling stream flow and water temperature in the North Santiam and Santiam Rivers, Oregon, 2001–02. Scientific investigations report 2004–5001, pp 1–35

  • Webb BW, Clack PD, Walling DE (2003) Water-air temperature relationships in a Devon river system and the role of flow. Hydrol Process 17:3069–3083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb BW, Hannah DM, Moore RD, Brown LE, Nobilis F (2008) Recent advances in stream and river temperature research. Hydrol Process 22:902–918

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology. We express thanks to all members involved in this project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, 305-8502, Japan

    Luki Subehi, Takehiko Fukushima, Yuichi Onda & Shigeru Mizugaki

  2. Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan

    Takashi Gomi

  3. Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan

    Tomomi Terajima

  4. Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Ken’ichirou Kosugi

  5. Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University, Nagano, 399-4598, Japan

    Shinya Hiramatsu & Hikaru Kitahara

  6. Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Aichi, 489-0031, Japan

    Koichiro Kuraji

  7. Faculty of Engineering, Graduate School of Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan

    Noriatsu Ozaki

Authors
  1. Luki Subehi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Takehiko Fukushima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yuichi Onda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shigeru Mizugaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Takashi Gomi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Tomomi Terajima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ken’ichirou Kosugi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Shinya Hiramatsu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Hikaru Kitahara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Koichiro Kuraji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Noriatsu Ozaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luki Subehi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Subehi, L., Fukushima, T., Onda, Y. et al. Influences of forested watershed conditions on fluctuations in stream water temperature with special reference to watershed area and forest type. Limnology 10, 33–45 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-008-0258-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-008-0258-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation