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Seasonal Differences in Plankton Community and Removal Efficiency of Nutrients and Organic Matter in a Subtropical Constructed Wetland

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Abstract

The performance of free water surface flow constructed wetlands (CW) may be impaired by abiotic factors. The effects of seasons on the water quality improvement and on the community of plankton were evaluated in a CW system with the macrophytes Cyperus giganteus Vahl, Typha domingensis Pers., Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms and Pontederia cordata L. Water, plankton and macrophytes were sampled in the inflow and outflow during the dry and rainy seasons. Differences in temperature, precipitation, hydraulic loading rate (HLR), hydraulic retention time (HRT), inlet mass loadings and plant biomass between seasons affected the treatment efficiency. High precipitation and the consequent increase in HLR along with an increase in temperature and lower macrophyte biomass, were correlated to lower rates of removal efficiency during the rainy season. The season with higher macrophytes abundance coincided with high retention of zooplankton and solids. Higher nutrient levels in the dry season corresponded with a dominance and abundance of r-strategist planktonic species. To increase the removal efficiency of nutrients and organic matter by CW systems, care should be taken to decrease the HLR especially in periods of high precipitation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the São Paulo State Research Foundation - FAPESP (2008/56621-5 and 2010/50478-6) for its financial support. Thanks are also due to the working group of the Limnology and Plankton Production Laboratory, to Marcio Jesus Gonçalves and Mauro Marcelino for their aid in making and maintaining the CW system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Limnology and Plankton Production Laboratory, Aquaculture Center, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Jaboticabal, São Paulo, 14884-900, Brazil

    Fernanda Travaini-Lima & Lúcia Helena Sipaúba-Tavares

  2. Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Fish & Aquaculture Research Station Dor, M.P. Hof HaCarmel 30820, Israel

    Ana Milstein

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  1. Fernanda Travaini-Lima
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  2. Ana Milstein
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  3. Lúcia Helena Sipaúba-Tavares
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Correspondence to Fernanda Travaini-Lima.

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Travaini-Lima, F., Milstein, A. & Sipaúba-Tavares, L.H. Seasonal Differences in Plankton Community and Removal Efficiency of Nutrients and Organic Matter in a Subtropical Constructed Wetland. Wetlands 36, 921–933 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-016-0804-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-016-0804-1

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