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Screening of 18 species for digestate phytodepuration

  • Wetland Systems: Ecology, Functions and Management
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Abstract

This experiment assesses the aptitude of 18 species in treating the digestate liquid fraction (DLF) in a floating wetland treatment system. The pilot system was created in NE Italy in 2010 and consists of a surface-flow system with 180 floating elements (Tech-IA®) vegetated with ten halophytes and eight other wetland species. The species were transplanted in July 2011 in basins filled with different proportions of DLF/water (DLF/w); periodic increasing of the DLF/w ratio was imposed after transplanting, reaching the worst conditions for plants in summer 2012 (highest EC value 7.3 mS cm/L and NH4-N content 225 mg/L). It emerged that only Cynodon dactylon, Typha latifolia, Elytrigia atherica, Halimione portulacoides, Salicornia fruticosa, Artemisia caerulescens, Spartina maritima and Puccinellia palustris were able to survive under the system conditions. Halophytes showed higher dry matter production than other plants. The best root development (up to 40-cm depth) was recorded for Calamagrostis epigejos, Phragmites australis, T. latifolia and Juncus maritimus. The highest nitrogen (10–15 g/m2) and phosphorus (1–4 g/m2) uptakes were obtained with P. palustris, Iris pseudacorus and Aster tripolium. In conclusion, two halophytes, P. palustris and E. atherica, present the highest potential to be used to treat DLF in floating wetlands.

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Acknowledgments

Research was carried out with the financial support of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, FITOPROBIO Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padua, Agripolis Campus, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, PD, Italy

    Francesca Pavan, Simone Breschigliaro & Maurizio Borin

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  1. Francesca Pavan
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  2. Simone Breschigliaro
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  3. Maurizio Borin
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Correspondence to Francesca Pavan.

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Responsible editor: Thomas Braunbeck

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Pavan, F., Breschigliaro, S. & Borin, M. Screening of 18 species for digestate phytodepuration. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 2455–2466 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3247-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3247-3

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