Proceedings of the 19th IAHR-APD Congress 2014, Hanoi, Vietnam

ISBN 978604821338-1

THERMAL EFFECTS ON BENTHIC INVERTEBRATES WITHIN THE HEADSTREAMS

R. ARAI (1), K. NUKAZAWA(2) ,S. KAZAMA (3) AND Y. TAKEMON (4)

(1)
Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, 1646, Abiko, 270-1194, Chiba, Japan.
Email: arai@criepi.denken.or.jp
(2)
Civil Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06, Aoba, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
Email: Nukazawa@kaigan.civil.tohoku.ac.jp
(3)
Civil Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06, Aoba, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
Email: Kazama@kaigan.civil.tohoku.ac.jp
(4)
Water Resources Research Center, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan
Email: takemon.yasuhiro.5e@kyoto-u.ac.jp

ABSTRACT

Headwater streams are relatively stable and free of human structures or land use changes. The flow regime and water
quality characteristics of such streams, with the exception of water temperature, are therefore not subject to significant
variation throughout the year. We conducted monthly sampling of the benthic communities and measurements of the
water temperature of headwater streams located in NE Japan in 2011 and 2012.As results, the similarity index decreased
significantly with the water temperature difference expanding. This result implies that projected increases in water
temperature due to climate change may alter the composition of benthic communities. The abundance of the Plecoptera
assemblage appeared to decline with elevated temperature, with this negative association particularly strong in the
summer months.

Keywords: water temperature, Plecoptera, similarity index

1. INTRODUCTION effect on benthic invertebrates in community level since

Benthic invertebrates are a good index organism of an
aquatic ecosystem. Natural and man-caused changes, for
example geomorphology, hydrology, water quality in the
stream, are reflected by the abundance, diversity and
species composition. Among these factors, water
temperature is one of the key factors that affect growth,
metabolism, and survivorship of benthic invertebrates
(Hynes, 1970; Sweeney, 1978; Sweeney and Vannote,
1986; Rempel and Carter, 1987; Brittain, 1991; Brielmann
et al., 2009).
All kinds of freshwater biota studies have been
conducted to explore the relationship between benthic
invertebrates and riverine environments. These studies
approaches include field surveys (Malmqvist and
Eriksson, 1995) or laboratory studies (Wellnitz et al.,
2010) to investigate the relationship between fluvial
characteristics and species richness or abundance. Works
which focus on the relationship between benthic fauna
and water temperature conducted in multiple sites in a
basin, but these findings were obscured by the
differences of stream conditions (e.g., stream sizes,
depths, water velocities or substrate types) (Duggan et
al., 2007; Quinn and Hickey, 1990; Statzner and Higler,
1986). Laboratory investigations which found out the
same relationship were rather closer and successful for
developing a one-on-one relationship but seen more
artificial than natural surveys (Quinn and Steele, 2010;
Gaufin and Hern, 1971). One of the demerits of the
laboratory investigations has difficulty to interpret the
experiment become restricted to a sole kind of species.
In natural streams, in the case when go from upstream to
downstream areas, water discharge increases resulting
increase in river average width, depth and velocity.
Additionally, since extensive land use change occurs in
downstream areas, anthropogenic water pollution, in
particular the thermal pollution becomes seriousness. On
the other hand, head streams are relatively stable and free
of man-made structures and influence of land use
changes. Therefore water quality and flow regime are no
significant fluctuations throughout the year (Karr and
Dudley, 1981; Cummins, 1974). While, water temperature
varies depend on elevation and seasonal change even
between different headwaters (Chang et al., 2010).
Therefore, it is possible to identify head streams with
relatively similar hydro-morphological features but
divergent thermal regimes. As such, we selected a
number of headwaters in the Natori River basin in Japan
and field surveys were performed to investigate effects of
water temperature on benthic invertebrates in
community level under natural streams.
2. METHODS
2.1 Study area
The Natori River basin, located in the northeast part of
Japan, has a catchment area of 939 km 2. Many tributaries
of the 354 km long Natori River emerge from the
peripheral mountain regions and flow through the
Sendai city, located in the middle of the basin, and wide
paddy field area in the lower part of the basin to end up

1
in the Pacific Ocean. The mean annual precipitation
Figure 1. Investigation spot in headwater streams of Natori river basin, located in NE Japan.
during 1971-2010 recorded in the Sendai meteorological
station is about 1255 mm, within which about 65% occurs
from May to October. River water level is therefore high
during this period including March to April due to snow
melt. Monthly averaged temperature is the lowest in
January and highest in August (1.5 and 24.1C,
respectively) but daily temperature often falls below
freezing point during winter and rise above 30C during
summer. Our investigation spots were set up at
headwater streams in this basin (Fig.1).
2.2 Field survey
Field survey was conducted at three sites (St.3, St.7 and
St.8) from July to October in 2011 once in every month.
Sample points were extended in 2012 where samples
were collected at eight sites (St.1-St.8) in May. Another
two sites were included and observations were made
once in every month from June to October 2012 at all
stations (St.1-St.10). These observation points cover a
range of elevations from 100-850 m.
The measurements of water temperature and quantitative
samplings of benthic communities were conducted at
each observation station. Water temperature was
measured at each river surface by digital water
temperature meter. Benthic communities were collected
at two points in each site in every occasion by using a net
attached to a steel quadrate (30 cm 30 cm with 250m
mesh size). Collected benthic invertebrates were then
dipped into 99.5% ethanol in the field until stored in the
laboratory with constant temperature. Following
guidelines by Kawai (2005), a stereomicroscope was used
to identify benthic invertebrates and classified to three
different levels; species, genus and family. The numbers
of taxa and individuals were then calculated to estimate
population density and species richness.
2.3 Diversity
index
Diversities of inter-population were evaluated using
Sorensen similarity index C (eqn [1]) ranging from 0 to 1
(Sorensen, 1948). Value 1 means that two populations
indicate identical composition of taxa.
2j [1]
C
ab
where a is the number of taxon in sample A, b is the
number of taxon in sample B, and j is the number of
common taxon in both samples. Using eqn [2] which
account the effects of equality, Pielous evenness index
ranging from 0 to 1 was calculated (Pielou, 1966). Value 1
means each taxon has same number of individuals. Eqn
[3] means Shannon-Weiner biodiversity index (Shannon,
1948). Generically, biodiversity is relatively higher if taxa
richness is abundant. However, even if richness is in the
same range at communities, when particular species
account largely population and other species is relatively
low population, biodiversity will come down.
H' [2]
e
log S
x x
H ' i log i [3]
N N
2
 Table 1. The average, maximum and minimum water temperatures at each investigation station.
Table 2. The density of each order, diversity index and taxa richness at each investigation station.
Where S is the number of taxa, xi is the number of
individuals in taxon i, and N is the total individuals of a
sample.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
3.1 Water
temperature
The average, maximum and minimum water
temperatures, observed at each investigation station
along with calculated standard deviation are shown in
Table 1. The selected observation stations located at
different elevation levels lead us to investigate the
altitudinal change in water temperatures in our study
area. Accordingly, the analyzed results in month scale
reveal a negative correlation of water temperature with
elevation, which is highest in June (R 2=0.94, p<0.01) and
lowest in October (R2=0.72, p<0.01). Similarly, the
relationship between standard deviation of water
temperature () and elevation also shows a negatively
strong correlation (R2=0.65, p<0.01). This negative
relationship suggests that the fluctuation of water
temperature is lower in higher altitudinal regions; this
result is in contrast with that of Ling et al. (2012), who
reported that no relationship exists between the
fluctuation of air temperature and elevation.
3.2 Benthic invertebrates community
Following the fields surveys, total population of 5241
individuals belong to taxa of Neuroptera (2 taxa),
Ephemeroptera (46 taxa), Plecoptera (22 taxa),
Trichoptera (66 taxa), Diptera (16 taxa), Coleoptera (15
taxa), Odonata (21 taxa), Lepidoptera (2 taxa), Hirudinea
(1 taxa), and Oligochaeta (1 taxa) were found. The
population composed of Ephemeroptera, and Diptera
accounts for about 70% of the total population. The
population of Ephemeroptera is 1767 individuals, and
consists mostly of Baetis (632 ind), Cinygmula (268 ind),
Ephemera japonica (262 ind), Paraleptophlebia (206 ind). The
population of Diptera is 1684 individuals, and consists
mostly of Chironomidae (1087 ind). The total population
density categorized in different taxa groups, and the
number of taxa obtained from each investigation station
is showed on Table2. Pielou evenness index obtained
from all sample produced an average value of 0.80.
We found a positive correlation between the number of
taxa and the faunal density (Fig. 2). In contrast,
Nukazawa et al. (2011) reported that no relationship
existed between the number of taxa and the density in the
benthic community within a mountain stream in a
sediment-controlled corridor in Japan. However, the
sample obtained at St.3 in Oct. 2012 showed a marked
increase in density over its average value, reaching 2000
(ind/m 2)in comparison with 600 (ind/m 2). This sample
mainly consisted of Tipulidae (822ind/m 2),
Cheumatopsyche (506 ind/m )
2
and Chironomidae
(300ind/m 2). Among the dominant taxa found at St.3,
Tronstad et al. (2010) reported that many chironomid
3

Figure 2. The relationship between faunal density and the
number of taxa.
Figure 3. The relationship between similarity index C and
water temperature difference.
Figure 4. The relationship between similarity index C and
point-to-point distance.
species has been appeared capable of rapid growth when
temperatures were more than 18 C. In addition,
Haidekker and Hering (2008) found that Cheumatopsyche
only occurs in streams with an August water temperature
of greater than 15.2 C. The maximum water temperature
at St.3 was 21.2 C, and the average water temperature
(16.8 C) was the highest among the study sites.
Therefore, these dominant taxa would increase at the site
because of the high water temperatures during the
period.
3.3 Similarity index and water temperature difference
The relationship between Sorensen similarity index C and
water temperature difference obtained from all sample in
entire period is showed on Fig.3. This relationship is
calculated by using 2 sampling data. These sampling data
is obtained from different station and observed in the
same period (same year, same month) because different
sampling period could raise bias caused by hatch or
emergence. According to Fig.3, the Sorensen similarity
index C generally decreased with increase water
temperature difference (R2=0.11, p<0.001).
The point-to-point distance may influence the
composition of benthic invertebrates community.
Therefore, point-to-point distance should be calculated
by tracing the valley. However, difficulty arises in areas
with complicated mountain topography. Therefore,
straight distance between two points was used for
developing the relationship between the Sorensen
similarity index C and straight-line point-to-point
distance (Fig.4). According, no clear relation was found
between point-to-point distance and the Sorensen
similarity index C.
The relationship between Sorensen similarity index C and
water temperature difference means that the composition
of species changed with variations in water temperature
environment, rather than season. Therefore, potential
water temperature change attributed to the urbanization
and climate change effects may adversely impact original
benthic invertebrates community. This result indicates
that benthic fauna should be changed by water
temperature because a lot of species have a preference of
water temperature respectively Furthermore, statistically
week relationship obtained between point-to-point
distance and Sorensen similarity index C suggest that the
composition of benthic species changed because of
difference of water temperature environment, rather than
distance.
3.4 Plecoptera and water temperature
Figure 5 shows the population density of Plecoptera
observed during entire observation period plotted with
water temperature. The population density of Plecoptera
generally decreased as the water temperature increases
but the relationship is statistically weak (Fig.5 : R 2=0.12,
p<0.01). This is because; hatch or emergence may
influence the population density. Therefore, same
relationship was calculated in monthly scale from May to
October in 2012 (Fig.6). This way, statistically stronger
relationships could be obtained, which lead us conclude
that the population density of Plecoptera decreases with
increase in water temperatures.
Generally, Plecoptera is known to colonize in cooler
temperate zones (Zwick, 2004). Calineuria, Protonemura,
and Scopura longa, which belong to the Plecoptera group,
are especially known to prefer cool temperature zones
(Kawai, 2005). In our data analysis, Calineuria,
Protonemura, and Scopura longa accounted for 25.5% (572
ind/m2), 13.6% (306 ind/m2) and 5.0% (111 ind/m2) of
total population density of Plecoptera, respectively. These
taxa therefore may have contributed to produce
negatively strong relationship between the population
density of Plecoptera and water temperature. According
to the relationships developed in monthly scale between
population density of Plecoptera and water temperature
(Fig.6), the population density of Plecoptera decreased
with increase in water temperatures. Therefore the
obvious conclusion has been that the population density
of Plecoptera is affected by water temperature rather than
the time or seasonal modulation.
4

Figure 5. The relationship between population density of
Plecoptera and water temperature observed during entire
observation period.
Figure 6. The relationship between population density of
Plecoptera and water temperature separated by monthly
scale in 2012.
4. CONCLUSIONS
This study evaluated quantitatively relationships between
water temperature and benthic invertebrates in
hydraulically similar and anthropogenetic unimpaired
headstreams. Our conclusions of this study are shown as
follow.
(1) The relationship between standard deviation of
water temperature and elevation also shows a
negatively strong correlation. This result suggests
that the fluctuation of water temperature is lower in
higher altitudinal regions.
(2) We found a positive correlation between the number
of taxa and the faunal density, although dominant
taxa (Cheumatopsyche and Chironomidae) were found
at St.3 .
(3) We found a negative correlation between faunal
similarity and water temperature difference. While, it
has no correlation between intersite distance and
faunal similarity. These results indicate that the
composition of benthic species changed because of
difference of water temperature environment,
independently of interspatial distance.
(4) The population densities of Plecoptera decreased
significantly with the water temperature rising,
especially in monthly scale. These results suggest
that the population density of Plecoptera is affected
by water temperature rather than the time or
seasonal modulation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was partially supported by the Ministry of
Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Grant-in-Aid for
Scientific Research (B), 2010-2013 (22360192, So Kazama)
and the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and
Culture, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A), 2010-
2013 (30111248, Tatsuo Omura).
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