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Small Contribution of Schoenoplectus acutus (Emergent Macrophyte) to Nitrogen Removal from Wastewater Effluent Input to a Restored Prairie Wetland Complex

  • Wetland Biogeochemistry
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Abstract

Natural and constructed wetlands have been successful in remediating municipal and industrial wastewater effluent before it is discharged to downstream watersheds. There are several wetland ecosystem processes that can contribute to retention or removal of elements input in wastewater, although their relative importance is uncertain and variable among different wetlands. In this study we combined measurements of plant biomass production, nutrient content and stable nitrogen isotope compositions (δ15N) in Schoenoplectus acutus to determine the role of these dominant emergent aquatic plants in uptake and removal of wastewater nitrogen input to the Frank Lake (Alberta, Canada) wetland complex. Municipal and industrial wastewater effluent enters Frank Lake in Basin 1 and water flow is directed through Basin 2 and Basin 3 before input to the Little Bow River. Plant and sediment δ15N values (> 15 ‰) showed extreme enrichment of 15N illustrating incorporation of effluent-derived nitrogen in the wetland complex. Nitrogen uptake by emergent plant biomass contributed approximately 8.7% of the total removal of that nutrient from Basin 1, while sequestration of nitrogen in lake sediments (25–50%) was a more important mechanism of nitrogen retention/removal. The relatively high plant δ15N values in Basins 1 and 2 were consistent with significant rates of denitrification occurring in those areas of the wetland.

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Data Availability

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

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Acknowledgements

Funds to support this study were provided by a research contract from Cargill Foods, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC)—Discovery Grant Program (RGPIN-2019-05195), Alberta Innovates-Energy and Environment Solutions (3360-E013), and a Mitacs Accelerate award in partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada. We received permission to conduct research at Frank Lake from Ducks Unlimited Canada. Stewart Rood initially introduced us to Frank Lake and has provided much help in developing our understanding of the wetland complex and in planning our ongoing studies of the ecosystem. Oshini Fernando, Holly Kalyn, Henry Bain and Danielle Nadeau assisted with fieldwork and sediment sampling.

Funding

Funds to support this study were provided by a research contract from Cargill Foods (MJ Bogard and LB Flanagan), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC)—Discovery Grant Program (RGPIN-2019–05195) (LB Flanagan), Alberta Innovates-Energy and Environment Solutions (3360-E013) (LB Flanagan), and a Mitacs Accelerate award in partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada (C Soued and MJ Bogard).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, Alberta, T1K 3M4, Canada

    Lawrence B. Flanagan, Kaydunn J. W. Henry, Melissa D. Telfer, Oscar R. Zimmerman, Cynthia Soued & Matthew J. Bogard

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  1. Lawrence B. Flanagan
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  2. Kaydunn J. W. Henry
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  3. Melissa D. Telfer
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  6. Matthew J. Bogard
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Contributions

LBF designed the study and MJB and LBF obtained the funding required to complete it. KJWH, MT, MJB and LBF conducted field plant biomass collections, and KJWH completed most of the lab work in preparing samples for chemical analyses. MJB and CS collected the lake sediment samples. ORZ carried-out the NDVI calculations from Landsat reflectance measurements. LBF conducted the data analyses and wrote the manuscript, with input from ORZ and MJB. All authors reviewed and approved of the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lawrence B. Flanagan.

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Competing Interests

Financial Interests: MJ Bogard and LB Flanagan received research contract funds from Cargill Foods Ltd that helped to offset research expenses incurred in this study. All other authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Flanagan, L.B., Henry, K.J.W., Telfer, M.D. et al. Small Contribution of Schoenoplectus acutus (Emergent Macrophyte) to Nitrogen Removal from Wastewater Effluent Input to a Restored Prairie Wetland Complex. Wetlands 42, 105 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-022-01622-x

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