Purification of eutrophic water by ryegrass

2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (10) ◽  
pp. 2138-2145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheli Ding ◽  
Avi Golan-Goldhirsh ◽  
Muhammad Khalid Rafiq ◽  
Tingqiang Li ◽  
Fengliang Zhao ◽  
...  

The present study was carried out to investigate the growth characteristics of different ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) cultivars and their ability to remediate eutrophic water using floating plant-bed technology. Greenhouse and lake experiments were conducted to evaluate the grass genotypes for water remediation. Twelve cultivars of ryegrass including Grazer, Secale Cerale, Energa, Rustmaster, AngusI, Abundant, AngusII, Jivet, Gulf, Surrey, Major and Barwoltra were grown in the floating plant-bed system. The plant biomass, plant NP (nitrogen and phosphorus) accumulations and the water purification capacity of selected grasses were significantly different (P < 0.05). Abundant, AngusII and Major showed most efficient purification capacity of eutrophic water. In a greenhouse, after 26 days of growth, the eutrophic water was purified to various extents by the different ryegrass cultivars. Nitrogen removal efficiency varied from 52.20% to 73.82% and phosphorus removal efficiency ranged from 75.12% to 84.77%. In a lake experiment at Huajiachi pond, after 162 days of growth, the plant shoot biomass increased from 321.5 to 922.8 g/m2 dry weight basis, shoot NP accumulation ranged from 61.5 to 168.2 mg m−2 d−1 and 11.9 to 47.2 mg m−2 d−1 respectively. NP accumulation rate by the various cultivars of ryegrass was highly positively correlated to their biomass production and water purification capacity. Thus, plant biomass could be used as an indicator for assessing purification capacity of a ryegrass cultivar.

2003 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 223-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Abira ◽  
H.W. Ngirigacha ◽  
J.J.A. van Bruggen

The potential of four aquatic macrophytes for treatment of wastewater in constructed wetlands was investigated in bucket mesocosms at Pan African Paper Mills (E.A) Limited. The buckets were operated as semi-continuous batch reactors with reversed vertical flow for a period of 3 months. Four treatments were applied involving two hydraulic retention times (HRT) and two wastewater concentrations. Plants appeared healthier and greener in treatments at HRT5 than at HRT10. Cyperus immensus and Typha domingensis had higher biomass gain compared to the other two species. Plant nitrogen and phosphorus content, based on dry weight, was lower at the end of the experiment than at the beginning in all treatments for all species. The removal efficiency achieved for COD ranged from 10 to 55% for planted buckets at HRT5 and 15 to 65% at HRT10 for similar buckets. The mean percentage COD removal in unplanted buckets was significantly lower than in planted ones. TSS removal efficiency ranged from 44-86%. Buckets planted with Typha exhibited the highest removal efficiency in all treatments. Those at HRT5 showed significantly higher removal efficiencies than those at HRT10 for all species. The results indicate that the plants are suitable for use in constructed wetlands for treatment of the wastewater provided the appropriate treatment is applied.


2014 ◽  
Vol 675-677 ◽  
pp. 430-433
Author(s):  
Hong Wang ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Shi Man Wang ◽  
Xian Chao Ji

In order to study combination effect of aquatic plants for the purification of eutrophic wastewater, research was carried out in greenhouse with water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersumL) an water milfoil (Myriophyllum verticillatum L). In the treatment of water hyacinth + water milfoil , the removal efficiency of ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N), nitrite nitrogen (NO3--N) , total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and COD was 74.7%, 61.7%, 65.6%, 73.8% and 50.8% respectively. And that of water hyacinth + hornwort was 79.0%, 52.6%, 67.5%, 46.2% and 56.9%. The combination of different aquatic plants have better removal efficiency than single species. Water milfoil showed good removal ability for the eutrophication pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, while hornwort was good at the purification of COD.


2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 904-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mawuli Dzakpasu ◽  
Xiaochang Wang ◽  
Yucong Zheng ◽  
Yuan Ge ◽  
Jiaqing Xiong ◽  
...  

The characteristics of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) removal were studied during the 2-year operation of a free water surface flow wetland of 900 m2 with hydraulic loading of 0.1 m/d to evaluate its potential to treat water from an urban stream polluted with municipal and industrial wastewater. Attention was focused on the removal of dissolved N and P by harvesting plants (local Phragmites australis and Typha orientalis) at the end of each growing season. According to findings, the removals of N and P increased from 47.1% and 17.6%, respectively, in the 1st year to 52.3% and 32.4%, respectively, in the 2nd year. Increments of N and P removal were largely attributable to plant biomass, which increased from an average dry weight of 1.77 kg/m2 in the 1st year to 3.41 kg/m2 in the 2nd year. The amount of nutrients assimilated by plants in the 2nd year was almost double that of the 1st year. Increasing biomass in the 2nd year also improved redox conditions in the substrate layer, which contributed to increasing the efficiency of N removal. Compared with T. orientalis, P. australis was more competitive and adapted to conditions in the wetland better; it regenerated more vigorously and contributed more to nutrient removal.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 210-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry E. Besançon

AbstractCarolina redroot is a common weed of New Jersey cranberry beds that competes with crops for nutritional resources but also serves as a food source for waterfowl. Greenhouse studies were conducted in 2017 in Chatsworth, NJ, to determine control of Carolina redroot aboveground vegetation and rhizome production with 10 herbicide active ingredients. Herbicides were applied as a single application on 10- to 15-cm-tall plants. Diquat at 560 g ai ha−1and mesotrione at 280 or 560 g ai ha−1controlled more than 90% of emerged shoots at 63 d after treatment (DAT). Aboveground vegetation control at 63 DAT reached 87% with 2,4-D and flumioxazin but was limited with glyphosate, not exceeding 40%. Mesotrione at 560 g ai ha−1provided 98% control of roots and rhizomes (root/rhizome) at 63 DAT, a 10% increase compared with 280 g ai ha−1; and 2,4-D (90%), glyphosate (87%), diquat (86%), and flumioxazin (85%) also showed excellent root/rhizome control. The greatest reduction of plant biomass compared with the nontreated check (UNT) was noted with 2,4-D, mesotrione at 280 g ai ha−1and 560 g ai ha−1, and diquat, with decreases from 73% to 80% for shoots and from 82% to 88% for roots/rhizomes. Glyphosate had less impact on shoot biomass reduction (−56%) but similar effect on root/rhizome dry weight (−79%) compared with 2,4-D, mesotrione, and diquat. Flumioxazin and fomesafen significantly reduced root/rhizome biomass by 78% and 72%, respectively. Concurrently, 2,4-D, flumioxazin, fomesafen, and diquat reduced the number of secondary shoots 70% to 90% compared with the UNT, whereas glyphosate and mesotrione completely inhibited emergence of new shoots. These data suggest that mesotrione applied POST provides excellent control of Carolina redroot. Future research should evaluate field applications of mesotrione in early summer when Carolina redroot regrowth occurs following the dissipation of PRE herbicide activity.


HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 485b-485
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Barry ◽  
Michael N. Dana

Nurse crops are often recommended in prairie restoration planting. This work investigated several alternative nurse crops to determine their utility in prairie planting. Nurse crops were composed of increasing densities (900, 1800, or 2700 seeds/m2) of partridge pea, spring oats, spring barley, Canada wild rye, or equal mixtures of partridge pea and one of the grasses. The experimental design was a randomized complete-block set in two sites with three blocks per site and 48 treatments per block. Each 3 × 3-m plot contained 1 m2 planted in Dec. 1995 or Mar. 1996 with an equal mix of seven prairie species. The nurse crops were sown over each nine square meter area in April 1996. Plots lacking nurse crops served as controls. Evaluated data consisted of weed pressure rankings and weed and prairie plant dry weight. Nurse crop treatments had a significant effect on weed pressure in both sites. Barley (1800 and 2700 seeds/m2) as well as partridge pea + barley (2700 seeds/m2) were most effective at reducing weed pressure. When weed and prairie plant biomass values were compared, a significant difference was observed for site quality and planting season. Prairie plant establishment was significantly greater in the poorly drained, less-fertile site and spring-sown plots in both sites had significantly higher prairie biomass values. Overall, after two seasons, there was no advantage in using nurse crops over the control. Among nurse crop treatments, oats were most effective in reducing weed competition and enhancing prairie plant growth.


1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Chow-Fraser ◽  
Barb Crosbie ◽  
Douglas Bryant ◽  
Brian McCarry

Abstract During the summer of 1994, we compared the physical and nutrient characteristics of the three main tributaries of Cootes Paradise: Spencer, Chedoke and Borer’s creeks. On all sampling occasions, concentrations of CHL α and nutrients were always lowest in Borer’s Creek and highest in Chedoke Creek. There were generally 10-fold higher CHL α concentrations and 2 to 10 times higher levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in Chedoke Creek compared with Spencer Creek. Despite this, the light environment did not differ significantly between Spencer and Chedoke creeks because the low algal biomass in Spencer Creek was balanced by a relatively high loading of inorganic sediments from the watershed. Laboratory experiments indicated that sediments from Chedoke Creek released up to 10 µg/g of soluble phosphorus per gram (dry weight) of sediment, compared with only 2 µg/g from Spencer Creek. By contrast, sediment samples from Spencer Creek contained levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that were as high as or higher than those from Chedoke Creek, and much higher than those found in Borer’s Creek. The distribution of normalized PAH concentrations suggests a common source of PAHs in all three tributaries, most likely automobile exhaust, since there were high concentrations of fluoranthene and pyrene, both of which are derivatives of engine combustion.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 889
Author(s):  
Aviad Perry ◽  
Noemi Tel-Zur ◽  
Arnon Dag

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) is a wax crop cultivated mainly in arid and semi-arid regions. This crop has been described as an alternate-bearing plant, meaning that it has a high-yield year (“on-year”) followed by a low-yield year (“off-year”). We investigated the effect of fruit load on jojoba’s vegetative and reproductive development. For two consecutive years, we experimented with two high-yielding cultivars—Benzioni and Hazerim—which had opposite fruit loads, i.e., one was under an on-year load, while the other was under an off-year load simultaneously. We found that removing the developing fruit from the shoot during an off-year promotes further vegetative growth in the same year, whereas in an on-year, this action has no effect. Moreover, after fruit removal in an on-year, there was a delay in vegetative growth renewal in the consecutive year, suggesting that the beginning of the growing period is dependent on the previous year’s yield load. We found that seed development in the 2018 season started a month earlier than in the 2017 season in both cultivars, regardless of fruit load. This early development was associated with higher wax content in the seeds. Hence, the wax accumulation rate, as a percentage of dry weight, was affected by year and not by fruit load. However, on-year seeds stopped growing earlier than off-year seeds, resulting in smaller seeds and an overall lower amount of wax per seed.


1977 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 799 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Sofield ◽  
IF Wardlaw ◽  
LT Evans ◽  
SY Zee

Plants of five cultivars of wheat were grown under controlled-environmental conditions in order to analyse the effect of cultivar and of temperature and illuminance after anthesis on the accumulation of nitrogen and phosphorus by grains in relation to dry matter. The water relations of the grain during maturation were also examined, using calcium content as an index of water entry. The nitrogen and phosphorus contents of grains increased linearly throughout the grain growth period. The percentage of nitrogen and phosphorus in grains fell sharply during the first few days after anthesis but rose progressively thereafter. The higher the temperature, and the lower the illuminance, the higher was the percentage of nitrogen in the grain of all cultivars. Such conditions also reduce final grain size, but their effects on nitrogen concentration in the grain were apparent early in grain development. No evidence was found of a flush of nitrogen or phosphorus into the grain late in its development. Water entry into the grain continued at a steady rate until maximum grain dry weight was reached, then ceased suddenly. No evidence was found of an increased rate of water loss by the grain at that stage, and the rapid fall in water content at the cessation of grain growth may have been due to blockage of the chalazal zone of entry into the grain by the deposition of lipids. Accumulation of dry matter, nitrogen and phosphorus and entry of water into the grain all ceased at the time of lipid deposition in the chalazal zone.


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