Benthic invertebrates inhabiting boreal rivers are exposed to very large seasonal variations in their physical environment. The extremes are in winter when the littoral area freezes solid and in spring when water flow increases rapidly. In the North Swedish river Vindelälven, the invertebrates fell into three main categories according to their seasonal lateral distribution. One category of animals was stationary in the littoral zone and let itselt freeze into the ice, adopting a "take it" alternative. The category consisted of many species belonging to several higher taxa. By overwintering in ice, the animals avoided predation for nearly half the year and they were in the productive littoral at the same time as they thawed out from the ice in spring. On the other hand the animals had to withstand sub-zero temperatures. A typical representative for this category of animals was the semivoltine snail Gyraulus acronicus. It is a less mobile species connected to dense stands of macrophytes, which are found only in the littoral zone of the river. Nearly the whole population was found overwintering successfully enclosed in ice. Its shell and epiphragm could serve as mechanical protection when frozen into the ice. G. acronicus was cold-hardy only during late autumn and early winter, but it could stand prolonged sub-zero exposure during the proper time. A second category of animlas avoided being frozen by performing lateral movements to deeper parts of the river, adopting the Vleave it" alternative. No species tested in this category were found cold-hardy. It consisted of mobile species known to utilize sedimentated detritus which was only found in greater amounts in the littoral zone of the river. In springtime, prior to spring flood peak, these species colonized promptly the former frozen zone. This behaviour was most pronounced in several lentie mayfly species. An extreme case of migratory behaviour was found in the mayfly Pararneletus chelifer which not only moved towards the river bank but continued up into small tributaries. The shoreward movements of mayflies both allowed the nymphs to avoid the high current velocities in the central part of the river during spring flood time and to utilize the food resources in the flooded areas. A third category of animals avoided the ice by living stationary in the sublittoral zone, adopting the "never face it" alternative. This category was dominated by filter feeders. / <p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå university, 1982, härtill 5 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu

In boreal landscapes, large quantities of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) accumulated in soils are flushed into rivers and streams during snowmelt. These inputs supply energy to aquatic microbes, affect pH, and can promote the transportation of metals to streams and rivers. However, during the spring flood, changes in stream DOC are influenced by the structure of the catchment (e.g., forest vs. wetland cover), where different solutes are stored in soils, and snowmelt hydrology. While these mechanisms have been studied extensively in ‘pristine’ boreal landscapes, the influence of agricultural and urban land use on DOC flushing during snowmelt is poorly understood in this region. To understand these influences, I measured DOC, along with pH, conductivity, and discharge, during snowmelt at three boreal streams draining agricultural and urban lands.  I analyzed chemical patterns using discharge-concentration curves that reveal whether solutes are stable (chemostatic) or change (chemodynamic) during floods. Similar to observations made in forested catchments elsewhere, DOC was chemodynamic at all sites, increasing with discharge; however, two sites did show dilution at the very highest flows. pH declined with discharge at one site, but did not change at the other two. Electrical conductivity declined (was diluted) with increasing discharge for all sites, coinciding with previous studies. These results indicate that the majority of these chemical patterns in boreal streams influenced by agriculture and urban land use are chemodynamic, either increasing or decreasing in concentration with discharge during snowmelt. However more studies are needed to further clarify if patterns human-modified catchments are consistent with models based on boreal forested catchments.

Methane (CH4) tree stem-atmosphere flux is viewed as a new frontier in the global carbon cycle and may be of great importance. The effect on flux from different tree species, forest ecosystems and seasons is still uncertain. This study aims to investigate how CH4 flux from stems of spruces and birches in a boreal riparian zone in northern Sweden was affected during the spring flood. Spatial and temporal patterns were examined in combination with tree species differences. A closed stem chamber system was applied to estimate CH4 flux from 28 trees during pre-snowmelt and snowmelt conditions. A three-way ANOVA analysis and Tukey´s HSD test was applied to test for main effects and interaction effects from “Field day”, “Distance to the stream” and “Species”. The study revealed that i) there was a significant increase in stem flux over the course of the spring flood while not unequivocal, ii) spruces and birches displayed no significant difference in flux, iii) the distance to the stream had no undisputable significant effect on stem flux. However, a trend in flux variation was observed with distance to the stream. No significant interaction effects were detected. Cumulative seasonal environmental changes or natural variability might explain temporal patterns. Spatial patterns may be connected to hot spots close to the stream. Results for species and interaction effects might facilitate estimations of fluxes in forested ecosystems. Methane flux rates are affected over the course of the spring flood, but further studies are needed to determine the cause for it.

För att ta fram vårflodsprognoser används idag en hydrologisk modell, HBVmodellen, som används operationellt både i Sverige och i andra länder för att ta fram tillrinningsprognoser. Ett av problemen med dessa prognoser är dock att de ofta har felaktigheter i beräkning av tillrinningsvolymer. I den här studien undersöks Vängelsjöns delavrinningsområde. Ett prognosområde där HBV-modellens tillrinningsprognos tidigare gett stora volymfel. Rapporten undersöker därför om det går att korrigera den operationella modellens snömängd genom snödjupsobservationer, för att ta fram mer tillförlitliga vårflodsprognoser. I rapporten har snödjupsobservationer och densitetsmätningar från Vattenregleringsföretagen (VRF), tillsammans med snödjupsobservationer från Sveriges meteorologiska och hydrologiska institut (SMHI), analyserats för att se om de kan användas för att förbättra tillrinningsprognosen för Vängelsjöns delavrinningsområde. Studien visar att det finns potential till att använda snödjupsobservationer för att minska osäkerheter i tillrinningsprognosen för Vängelsjöns delavrinningsområde. Det bästa resultatet gavs genom att använda tre stationer från SMHI tillsammans med två stationer från VRF. Resultatet för dessa fem stationer gav ett volymfel i uppmätt vattenekvivalent på 6 %, 7 %, 22 % och 17 % för mars månad perioden 2014-2017, vilket gav en markant förbättring mot det modellerade prognosvärdet med volymfel på 40 %, 77 %, 24 %, och 49 % för samma period. / Today, spring flood forecasts are calculated through a hydrological model, the HBVmodel. It is a model that is used operationally both in Sweden and in other countries to obtain catchment forecasts. One problem with these forecasts is that they often give errors in calculations to the inflow volume. In this study the Vängelsjö sub catchment will be examined. A forecast area where the HBV-model flow forecasting has given large volume errors. In the report it is therefore examined if the operational model can be corrected with snow measurement data. In this report snow depth observations and density measurements from Vattenregleringsföretagen (VRF) have been analyzed, together with snow depth observations from the Swedish Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (SMHI) to see if the data can be used to improve the forecasting for Vängelsjö sub catchment. The study shows that there is a potential in using snow measurement observations to reduce insecurities in the flow forecast for Vängelsjö sub catchment. The best result was received by using three snow stations from SMHI and two from VRF. The result from those five stations gave a volume error in measured snow water equivalent (SWE) at 6 %, 7 %, 22% and 17 % for Mars during the period 2014-2017, which gave a significant improvement against the modelled forecast value with volume errors of 40 %, 77 %, 24 % and 49 % for the same period.

No description available.

<p>The transport of elements by streams from headwater regions to the sea is influenced by landscape characteristics. This thesis focuses on the influence of landscape characteristics (e.g. proportion of wetland/forest coverage) on temporal and spatial variations of Fe, Mn, S and trace elements (As, Co, Pb) in streams located in northern Sweden, a boreal region characterized by coniferous forests and peat wetlands.</p><p>Water samples from a network of 15 streams revealed a different hydrogeochemistry in forested catchments compared to wetland catchments. The temporal variation was dominated by spring flood, when concentrations of Fe, Mn and trace elements increased in forested headwaters. However, in streams of wetland catchments concentrations decreased, but Pb concentrations were higher in comparison to other streams. Both Fe and Pb showed positive correlations with wetland area, while Co correlated with forest coverage. The anthropogenic contribution of As and Pb appear to be larger than the supply from natural sources.</p><p>During spring flood SO₄^2- decreased in most streams, although concentrations increased in streams of wetland catchments. Concentrations of SO₄^2-were higher in streams of forested catchments than in wetland dominated streams, the former being net exporters of S and the latter net accumulators. Isotope values of stream water SO₄^2- (δ³⁴S_SO4) were close to that of precipitation during spring flood, indicating that the major source of S is from deposition. The results show that, although emissions of anthropogenic S have been reduced, there is still a strong influence of past and current S deposition on runoff in this region.</p><p>In conclusion, wetlands are key areas for the hydrogeochemistry in this boreal landscape. The findings emphasize the importance of understanding stream water chemistry and element cycling from a landscape perspective. This may be important for predicting how boreal regions respond to environmental disturbances such as climate change.</p>

Climate change is a well-studied subject but large uncertainties still exist in future projections. These uncertainties are even larger on future runoff projections at catchment scales due to the differences in local landscape factors. Continuous assessments are therefore needed to improve our understanding and increase our preparedness for the future. One way forward is to assess the impact of climate change on runoff with the new hydrological model PERSiST. PERSiST was calibrated to four study catchments that spread out along a south-north climate gradient of Sweden. The model well simulated the stream discharges with Nash-Sutcliffe values ranging from 0.55 to 0.76. The model was then driven by downscaled and bias-corrected weather data (2061–2090) from an ensemble of 15 Regional Climate Models. The runoff projections showed that the impact of climate change on runoff would differ across the catchments. All catchments would see an increase in annual runoff with the greatest increase in the northernmost catchment. The northernmost catchment would also see a likely decline in spring flood, a shift in timing of the spring flood from May to April and an increase in winter runoff. As a result of an increase in winter runoff, there could be a loss of seasonality. In the more southern catchments the present-day runoff was more evenly distributed during the year and the projected loss of seasonality was not as pronounced. The conclusion was that the impact of climate change on runoff would increase northward, due to the higher response to climate change in the northernmost catchments. / Klimatförändringar är ett välstuderat ämne men stora osäkerheter kvarstår vad gäller framtida projektioner. Dessa osäkerheter är ännu större när det kommer till framtida projektioner av avrinning på grund av stora olikheter i lokala faktorer. Därför är fortsatta utvärderingar av nytta för att öka förståelsen och förbättra förberedelsen för framtiden. Ett steg i rätt riktning är att utvärdera klimatförändringars effekt på avrinning med hjälp av den nya hydrologiska modellen PERSiST. PERSiST kalibrerades för fyra olika avrinningsområden som var utspridda längs en syd-nord-gradient av Sverige. Den kalibrerade modellen simulerade det observerade flödet med Nash-Sutcliffe värden från 0,55 till 0,76. Modellen kördes sedan med nerskalad och bias-korrigerad väderdata (2061–2090) från en ensemble av 15 regionala klimatmodeller. Resultatet visade att klimatförändringars effekt på avrinning varierade mellan avrinningsområdena. Alla avrinningsområden påvisade en ökning i total årlig avrinning. Den största ökningen stod att finna i det nordligaste avrinningsområdet. Det nordligaste avrinningsområdet påvisade även en trolig minskning i vårflodsvolym, en skiftning av vårfloden från maj till april samt högre flöden vintertid. Som ett resultat av högre flöden vintertid uppstod en minskning av säsongsvariation. I de sydligare avrinningsområdena var dagens flöden jämnare fördelade över året, vilket gjorde att minskningen av säsongsvariation inte var lika stor. Slutsatsen var att klimatförändringarnas effekt på avrinning ökar norrut.

The transport of elements by streams from headwater regions to the sea is influenced by landscape characteristics. This thesis focuses on the influence of landscape characteristics (e.g. proportion of wetland/forest coverage) on temporal and spatial variations of Fe, Mn, S and trace elements (As, Co, Pb) in streams located in northern Sweden, a boreal region characterized by coniferous forests and peat wetlands. Water samples from a network of 15 streams revealed a different hydrogeochemistry in forested catchments compared to wetland catchments. The temporal variation was dominated by spring flood, when concentrations of Fe, Mn and trace elements increased in forested headwaters. However, in streams of wetland catchments concentrations decreased, but Pb concentrations were higher in comparison to other streams. Both Fe and Pb showed positive correlations with wetland area, while Co correlated with forest coverage. The anthropogenic contribution of As and Pb appear to be larger than the supply from natural sources. During spring flood SO42- decreased in most streams, although concentrations increased in streams of wetland catchments. Concentrations of SO42- were higher in streams of forested catchments than in wetland dominated streams, the former being net exporters of S and the latter net accumulators. Isotope values of stream water SO42- (δ34SSO4) were close to that of precipitation during spring flood, indicating that the major source of S is from deposition. The results show that, although emissions of anthropogenic S have been reduced, there is still a strong influence of past and current S deposition on runoff in this region. In conclusion, wetlands are key areas for the hydrogeochemistry in this boreal landscape. The findings emphasize the importance of understanding stream water chemistry and element cycling from a landscape perspective. This may be important for predicting how boreal regions respond to environmental disturbances such as climate change.