Molecular characterization of long-term impacts of macrophytes harvest management in constructed wetlands

Yucong Zheng; Mawuli Dzakpasu; Xiaochang Wang; Lu Zhang; Huu Hao Ngo; Wenshan Guo; Yaqian Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2018.08.030

Molecular characterization of long-term impacts of macrophytes harvest management in constructed wetlands

Bioresour Technol. 2018 Nov:268:514-522. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.08.030. Epub 2018 Aug 11.

Authors

Yucong Zheng¹, Mawuli Dzakpasu², Xiaochang Wang³, Lu Zhang⁴, Huu Hao Ngo⁵, Wenshan Guo⁵, Yaqian Zhao⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China; Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China.
² Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China; International Science & Technology Cooperation Center for Urban Alternative Water Resources Development, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China.
³ Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China; International Science & Technology Cooperation Center for Urban Alternative Water Resources Development, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: xcwang@xauat.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
⁶ UCD Dooge Centre for Water Resources Research, School of Civil Engineering, Newstead Building, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

PMID: 30114671
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.08.030

Abstract

There is little understanding of constructed wetlands (CWs) microbial community patterns in response to harvest management. Therefore, long-term impacts of harvesting Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel annually in November on the activity and community structure of microorganisms critical to the treatment efficiency of CW are elucidated. Findings show exponential increases in P. australis density and biomass with continuous harvesting, up to three times over unharvested CW. High-throughput pyrosequencing analysis demonstrates that plants harvesting improves the microbial community diversity and richness significantly, and more particularly, the relative abundance of Flavobacterium, Paenisporosarcina, and Povalibacter, which are extensively associated with CW performance. Consequently, increased plants biomass resulted in enhanced plants nutrients uptake in harvested (56.5 g N/m², 5.5 g P/m²) than unharvested CWs (17.5 g N/m², 1.8 g P/m²), whereas improved rhizosphere microclimates significantly enhanced nutrients removals in harvested CW (TN 109.9 g/m² vs 67.4 g/m², TP 18.0 g/m² vs 13.0 g/m²).

Keywords: Constructed wetland; Harvest management; Microbial community; Nutrients removal; Plants physiology.

MeSH terms

Biomass
Poaceae*
Rhizosphere
Waste Disposal, Fluid*
Wetlands*