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A Classification of Stream Water Temperature Regimes in the Conterminous USA
Author(s) -
Maheu A.,
Poff N. L.,
StHilaire A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
river research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.679
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1535-1467
pISSN - 1535-1459
DOI - 10.1002/rra.2906
Subject(s) - streams , environmental science , range (aeronautics) , ecosystem , hydrology (agriculture) , climate change , diel vertical migration , temporal scales , magnitude (astronomy) , spring (device) , scale (ratio) , aquatic ecosystem , thermal , climatology , atmospheric sciences , ecology , geology , geography , meteorology , oceanography , mechanical engineering , computer network , materials science , physics , geotechnical engineering , cartography , astronomy , computer science , biology , engineering , composite material
Temporal variability in water temperature plays an important role in aquatic ecosystems, yet the thermal regime of streams has mainly been described in terms of mean or extreme conditions. In this study, annual and diel variability in stream water temperature was described at 135 unregulated, gauged streams across the USA. Based on magnitude, amplitude and timing characteristics of daily water temperature records ranging from 5 to 33 years, we classified thermal regimes into six distinct types. This classification underlined the importance of including characteristics of variability (amplitude and timing) in addition to aspects of magnitude to discriminate thermal regimes at the continental scale. We used a classification tree to predict thermal regime membership of the six classes and found that the annual mean and range in the long‐term air temperature average along with spring flows were important variables defining the thermal regime types at the continental scale. This research provides a framework for a comprehensive characterization of the thermal regimes of streams that could provide a basis for future assessment of changes in water temperature caused by anthropogenic activities such as dams, land use changes and climate change. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.