Davies P (University of Western Australia, Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, Albany); Cook B (University of Western Australia, Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, Albany); Rutherford K (University of Western Australia, Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, Albany); Walshe T (University of Western Australia, Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, Albany)
Research has shown that in-stream water temperatures control ecological processes and directly regulate biodiversity when upper lethal temperature limits of aquatic fauna are exceeded. In-stream water temperatures can be controlled by adequate riparian shading, which may also have flow-on improvements to lower river systems and estuaries. Controlling in-stream water temperature through riparian revegetation is one area of riparian restoration where target values can be easily set and where the amount of vegetation required to meet those targets can be specified. This technical guideline explores the ecological impacts of high water temperatures, particularly for ecosystem processing and aquatic fauna biodiversity, and provides guidance on identifying appropriate targets for riparian shading. A simple step-by-step method for determining relative priorities at the sub-catchment or catchment scale is described (A).
