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Spatial variation of water temperature characteristics and behavior in a Devon river system
Author(s) -
WEBB B. W.,
WALLING D. E.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
freshwater biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.297
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2427
pISSN - 0046-5070
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2427.1986.tb01002.x
Subject(s) - spatial variability , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , magnitude (astronomy) , spatial ecology , surface runoff , drainage basin , atmospheric sciences , elevation (ballistics) , physical geography , ecology , geology , geography , statistics , physics , geometry , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , cartography , astronomy , biology
SUMMARY. 1. The results of 5 years of continuous monitoring of river water temperatures at seventeen stations within the Exe basin, Devon, U.K., are presented and discussed. 2. Systematic spatial variation in mean annual water temperature was evident and was strongly related to the topographic variable of elevation. Deviations from this relationship reflect local influences of vegetation shading, runoff source and channel character. 3. Considerable spatial variation in temperature extremes was also apparent, and the Exe basin differs from several other British river systems in exhibiting highest peak temperatures at downstream sites on the mainstream. Discharge from Wimbleball Reservoir exerted a significant influence on annual maxima and minima. 4. A clear seasonal cycle characterized all stations and was objectively defined by second‐order harmonic functions which varied in amplitude and phase across the study area. Marked spatial variability in the magnitude and timing of diurnal temperature fluctuations, in temperature duration curves and in accumulated temperatures was also recorded. 5. The implications of the spatial variation in thermal regime for the growth of brown trout was also investigated.