Decomposition of Emergent Aquatic Plant (Cattail) Litter Under Different Conditions and the Influence on Water Quality

Suqing Wu, Shengbing He, Jungchen Huang, Jianya Gu, Weili Zhou, Lei Gao

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Decomposition of aquatic plant might generate a significant influence on the receiving water body. In this study, decomposition of emergent aquatic plant (cattail) litter was investigated under different conditions to determine the influencing level of the decomposition process on the water quality. Different litter addition rates (0.1, 0.5, 1.0 g L−1), temperature changes, sediment additions, and kinestates (static and dynamic conditions) were selected as the influencing factors for the decomposition process. The results suggested that the decomposition process could be all accelerated when conducted at a higher litter addition rate, under a cold condition, with sediment addition or on dynamic condition, respectively. Additionally, the maximum ratio of releasing carbon to nitrogen (C/N) was increased when the decomposition process was conducted with a higher litter addition rate, under a cold condition (31.0), with sediment addition (24.6) and on a dynamic condition (28.0), respectively, and the C/N ratios were all higher than that with only 0.5 g L−1litter addition (24.5), suggesting that lowering of water temperature, sediment addition, and increasing of oxygen might also enhance the C/N. The high C/N released during the decomposition process implied that the cattail litter might be utilized as the potential organic carbon source for nitrogen removal in the CW system.

Original languageEnglish
Article number70
JournalWater, Air, and Soil Pollution
Volume228
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017 Feb

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Ecological Modelling
  • Water Science and Technology
  • Pollution

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