Green, Hannah S.2024-10-152024-10-152024-08https://unbscholar.lib.unb.ca/handle/1882/38157The impact of climate change and human disturbances affects the thermal regime of rivers, increasing the need for conservation of thermal refuges. Tributary confluence plumes are a classification of thermal refuges on the Restigouche River watershed. The objectives of this thesis were to use landscape attributes to predict water temperatures at tributary confluence plumes at two spatial scales (global and reach-specific) and identify how landscape drivers vary at the sub-catchment. Model 3D explored three variables, and a second model (12D) included the addition of nine other variables. We increased global variability explained between model 3D (R2 = 0.07) and model 12D (R2= 0.88). We classified reach-scale models under three categories of high relative importance: bedrock, climate and canopy cover. We recommend that the Kedgwick (canopy), Restigouche and Upsalquitch Southeast (climate) tributaries be of high priority for protection, while continuing exploration into the effects of geomorphology on the watershed.xii, 71electronicenhttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2master thesisSacobie, CharlesOgilvie, JaeForestry and Environmental Management