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Nutrient leaching in extensive green roof substrate layers with different configurations

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Abstract

Due to substrate layers with different substrate configurations, extensive green roofs (EGRs) exhibit different rainfall runoff retention and pollution interception effects. In the rainfall runoff scouring process, nutrient leaching often occurs in the substrate layer, which becomes a pollution source for rainwater runoff. In this study, six EGR devices with different substrate layer configurations were fabricated. Then, the cumulative leaching quantity (CLQ) and total leaching rate (TLR) of NH4+, TN, and TP in the outflow of nine different depth simulated rainfall events under local rainfall characteristics were evaluated and recorded. Furthermore, the impact of different substrate configurations on the pollution interception effects of EGRs for rainfall runoff was studied. Results show that a mixed adsorption substrate in the EGR substrate layer has a more significant rainfall runoff pollution interception capacity than a single adsorption substrate. PVL and PVGL, as EGRs with layered configuration substrate layers, exhibited good NH4+-N interception capacity. The CLQ and TLR of NH4+-N for PVL and PVGL were − 114.613 mg and − 63.43%, − 121.364 mg, and − 67.16%, respectively. Further, the addition of biochar as a modifier significantly slowed down the substrate layer TP leaching effect and improved the interception effect of NH4+-N and TN. Moreover, although polyacrylamide addition in the substrate layer aggravated the nitrogen leaching phenomenon in the EGRs’ outflow, but the granular structure substrate layer constructed by it exhibited a significantly inhibited TP leaching effect.

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The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Special Fund for Postgraduate Innovation in Jiangxi Province, China (Grant No. YC2020-S125), and the Postgraduate Innovation Project of Nanchang University, China (Grant No. CX2019115).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Chen Xu, Zaohong Liu & Guanjun Cai

  2. School of Resources, Environmental & Chemical Engineering and Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Jian Zhan

Authors
  1. Chen Xu
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  2. Zaohong Liu
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  3. Guanjun Cai
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  4. Jian Zhan
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Contributions

All the authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis, and table and figure drawing were performed by Chen Xu, Zaohong Liu, and Guanjun Cai. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Chen Xu, and all the authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Jian Zhan revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jian Zhan.

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Highlights

• Multiple adsorption substrates have a synergistic effect on the adsorption and interception of pollutants.

• Layered substrate layer have significant NH4+-N interception capacity due to the unique lower adsorption layer.

• The addition of polyacrylamide in EGR substrate layer is likely to cause additional nitrogen pollution.

• Biochar can be used as an excellent modifier to enhance the rainfall runoff pollution interception capacity of EGRs.

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Xu, C., Liu, Z., Cai, G. et al. Nutrient leaching in extensive green roof substrate layers with different configurations. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 34278–34287 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17969-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17969-3

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