{"pk":62905,"title":"Investigation of Floating Peat Wetlands, Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California","subtitle":null,"abstract":"Tidal wetland restoration is integral to achieving the Delta coequal goals. Deeply subsided islands limit the potential for tidal wetland restoration. Floating peats may offer an opportunity to create tidal habitat in the subsided western and central Delta. We conducted a mesocosm experiment to assess the feasibility of floating peat blocks, and the potential food-web benefits, biomass production, carbon sequestration, methane emissions, and water-quality effects. We evaluated the effect of varying water residence time and initial peat-block density.\nThe peat blocks floated during the entire experiment, and accreted biomass at rates consistent with those reported for Delta non-tidal managed wetlands. Peat blocks placed in mesocosms with 45% open water expanded horizontally about 21% per year. We estimated average vertical accretion rates of 5.5 to 8.6 cm/yr  for all the mesocosms. Vertical and horizontal expansion increase floating peat-block stability.\nWe measured a 3-fold zooplankton population increase during the first year after deployment, relative to the Mokelumne River, which was the mesocosm’s water source. Measured and modeled methane emissions were lower than those reported in Delta non-tidal managed wetlands. Aqueous methane concentrations and methane fluxes were significantly lower for the shorter water-residence-time of about 5 days compared to longer residence times of about 11 days. Elevated dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations generally corresponded with low methane concentrations. Our estimated net ecosystem carbon balance of – 820 +/– 137 g C m2/yr  indicates that the floating wetlands are potentially greater carbon sinks than Delta non-tidal wetlands. Nitrogen data indicated consumption by wetland plants, and denitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction in the mesocosms. Our preliminary results point to potential ecosystem benefits of floating peats on a larger scale.","language":"en","license":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0","short_name":"CC BY 4.0","text":"Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\n\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"},"keywords":[{"word":"subsidence mitigation, food-web, greenhouse gas emissions and removals, wetlands"}],"section":"Research Article","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/43w4j002","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Steven","middle_name":"","last_name":"Deverel","name_suffix":"","institution":"HydroFocus, Inc., Davis, CA 95616 USA","department":""},{"first_name":"Carson","middle_name":"","last_name":"Jeffres","name_suffix":"","institution":"Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California–Davis, Davis, CA 95616 USA","department":""},{"first_name":"Sabina","middle_name":"","last_name":"Dore","name_suffix":"","institution":"HydroFocus, Inc., Davis, CA 95616 USA","department":""},{"first_name":"Nicholas","middle_name":"","last_name":"Corline","name_suffix":"","institution":"Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California–Davis, Davis, CA 95616 USA","department":""},{"first_name":"Nicholas","middle_name":"","last_name":"Christen","name_suffix":"","institution":"HydroFocus, Inc., Davis, CA 95616 USA","department":""},{"first_name":"Liyi","middle_name":"","last_name":"Xu","name_suffix":"","institution":"HydroFocus, Inc., Davis, CA 95616 USA","department":""},{"first_name":"Marc","middle_name":"","last_name":"Olds","name_suffix":"","institution":"HydroFocus, Inc., Davis, CA 95616 USA","department":""},{"first_name":"Savannah","middle_name":"M.","last_name":"Haas","name_suffix":"","institution":"HydroFocus, Inc., Davis, CA 95616 USA","department":""},{"first_name":"Gregory","middle_name":"G.","last_name":"Schellenbarger","name_suffix":"","institution":"cbec eco engineering, West Sacramento, CA 95619 USA","department":""},{"first_name":"Daniel","middle_name":"","last_name":"Eckes","name_suffix":"","institution":"HydroFocus, Inc., Davis, CA 95616 USA","department":""}],"date_submitted":"2024-12-09T22:51:53Z","date_accepted":"2024-12-09T22:51:53Z","date_published":"2024-12-17T08:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/jmie_sfews/article/62905/galley/48591/download/"}]}