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@article{Ritson:2016:10.1038/srep36751,
author = {Ritson, JP and Bell, M and Brazier, RE and Grand-Clement, E and Graham, NJD and Freeman, C and Smith, DM and Templeton, MR and Clark, JM},
doi = {10.1038/srep36751},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
title = {Managing peatland vegetation for drinking water treatment},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep36751},
volume = {6},
year = {2016}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - Peatland ecosystem servicesinclude drinking water provision, flood mitigation, habitat provision and carbon sequestration. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal is a key treatment process for the supply of potablewaterdownstream frompeat-dominated catchments. A transition from peat-forming Sphagnummoss to vascular plants has been observed in peatlands degraded by (a) land management, (b) atmospheric deposition and (c) climate change. Herewithinwe show that the presence of vascular plants with higherannual above-ground biomass productionleads to a seasonaladdition of labileplantmaterialinto the peatland ecosystemaslitter recalcitranceis lower. The net effect willbe asmaller litter carbon pool dueto higher rates of decomposition, and a greater seasonal pattern of DOC flux. Conventional water treatment involving coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation may be impeded byvascularplant-derivedDOC. It has been shown thatvascularplant-derived DOC is more difficult to remove via these methodsthan DOC derived from Sphagnum, whilst also being less susceptible to microbial mineralisation before reaching the treatment works. These results provide evidence that practices aimed at re-establishing Sphagnummoss on degraded peatlands could reduce costs and improve efficacy at water treatment works, offering an alternative to ‘end-of-pipe’ solutionsthrough management of ecosystem service provision.
AU - Ritson,JP
AU - Bell,M
AU - Brazier,RE
AU - Grand-Clement,E
AU - Graham,NJD
AU - Freeman,C
AU - Smith,DM
AU - Templeton,MR
AU - Clark,JM
DO - 10.1038/srep36751
PY - 2016///
SN - 2045-2322
TI - Managing peatland vegetation for drinking water treatment
T2 - Scientific Reports
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep36751
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/42567
VL - 6
ER -
Climate Science
Earth and Life Sciences
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