Unveiling the nitrogen removal performance from microbial network establishment in vertical flow constructed wetlands

Liandong Zhang; Baoshan Yang; Hui Wang; Shuzhi Wang; Fei He; Wenxue Xu

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129749

Unveiling the nitrogen removal performance from microbial network establishment in vertical flow constructed wetlands

Bioresour Technol. 2023 Nov:388:129749. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129749. Epub 2023 Sep 9.

Authors

Liandong Zhang¹, Baoshan Yang², Hui Wang³, Shuzhi Wang¹, Fei He⁴, Wenxue Xu¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Water Conservancy and Environment, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China.
² School of Water Conservancy and Environment, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China; Shandong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Ecological Carbon Sink and Capture Utilization, Jinan 250022, China. Electronic address: stu_yangbs@ujn.edu.cn.
³ School of Water Conservancy and Environment, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China; Shandong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Ecological Carbon Sink and Capture Utilization, Jinan 250022, China. Electronic address: hwang_118@163.com.
⁴ Jinan Environmental Research Academy, Jinan 250000, China.

PMID: 37690488
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129749

Abstract

The combined effects of substrate types (natural zeolite or shale ceramsite) and hydraulic retention time (HRT, 3-day or 6-day) on nutrient removal and microbial co-occurrence networks in vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs) remains to be elucidated. In this study, zeolite-packed VFCWs demonstrated superior removal rates, achieving 93.65% removal of NH₄⁺-N and 83.84% removal of COD at 6-day HRT. The activity and establishment of microbial community were influenced by combined operating conditions. The abundances of Amx, amoA, nxrA, and nosZ genes increased with longer HRTs in zeolite-packed VFCWs. Additionally, a 6-day HRT significantly increased the relative abundances of Proteobacteria and Nitrospirae. At the species level, zeolite-packed VFCWs exhibited ecological niche sharing as a coping strategy in response to environment changes, while ceramsite-packed VFCWs displayed ecological niche differentiation. Both zeolite-packed and ceramsite-packed VFCWs established functional networks of nitrogen-transforming genera that utilized ecological niche differentiation strategies.

Keywords: Constructed wetlands; Ecological niche; Hydraulic retention time; Keystone species; Substrates.