Stream sub-reach differentiation : the influence of land management
department or school: Arts and Sciences, Irving K. Barber School of (Okanagan)
department or school: Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences, Department of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Richardson, Noelle
issued: 2020-04-06T15:07:10Z
issued: 2020
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Agricultural land-use practices impart unique biophysical signatures on streams at the scale of a farm or ranch. As such, Alderson Creek, a groundwater-fed stream that traverses several small agricultural land holdings, might be segmented into a series of sub-reaches, the boundaries of which align roughly with property divisions. A research project was designed to assess whether land management influences have implications on stream characteristics and aquatic health at the scale of agriculturally segmented landscapes. A series of biophysical and chemical indicators of water quality were monitored regularly at several cross-sections along Alderson Creek. An assessment of the overall water quality was conducted with the use of time-series plots and downstream trends. Discriminant analysis (DA) tests were executed with various combinations of the measured variables. The intent was to identify sub-reach membership based on statistical similarities and differences. The results indicate that there is some evidence for sub-reach differentiation. Clustering of cross-sections was evident in the raw data (i.e., box-plots) as well as in statistical tests (i.e., discriminant analysis), although sub-reaches weren’t delineated exactly as expected. Some sub-reaches were different from one another because land uses were distinctly different (R5 from R4). However, some sub-reaches were not clearly differentiable because land use was not distinctly different and there was some transference of water quality from upstream to downstream (R2 versus R1). Overall, this study determined that sub-reach differentiation is influenced by local influences (at the scale of a cross-section or monitoring site), downstream effects (reach scale), and land use practices (property or sub-reach scale). Research undertaken in this thesis contributes to the literature on the role of human influences on stream health and to the understanding of scales of influence. Researchers as well as land-owners benef…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/73923
note: STREAM SUB-REACH DIFFERENTIATION: THE INFLUENCE OF LAND MANAGEMENT by Noelle Richardson B.Sc., University of British Columbia, 2016 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Earth and Environmental Science) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) March 2020 © Noelle Richardson, 2020 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: STREAM SUB-REACH DIFFERENTIATION: THE INFLUENCE OF LAND MANAGEMENT submitted by Noelle Richardson in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science. Dr. Bernard Bauer, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Supervisor Dr. Craig Nichol, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Robert Newbury, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Dwayne Tannant, University of British Columbia University Examiner iii Abstract Agricultural land-use practices impart unique biophysical signatures on streams at the scale of a farm or ranch. As such, Alderson Creek, a groundwater-fed stream that traverses several small agricultural land holdings, might be segmented into a series of sub-reaches, the boundaries of which align roughly with property divisions. A research project was designed to assess whether land management influences have implications on stream characteristics and aquatic health at the scale of agriculturally segmented landscapes. A series of biophysical and chemical indicators of water quality were monitored regularly at several cross-sections along Alderson Creek. An assessment of the overall water quality was conducted with the use of time-series plots and downstream trends. Discriminant analysis (DA) tests were executed with various combinations of the measured variables. The intent was to identify sub-reach membership based on statist…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2020-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0389755
language: eng
degree discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/73923