A novel submerged Rotala rotundifolia, its growth characteristics and remediation potential for eutrophic waters

Chaoguang GU, Feifei LI, Jibo XIAO, Shuyi CHU, Shuang SONG, Ming Hung WONG

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The vegetative growth and remediation potential of Rotala rotundifolia, a novel submerged aquatic plant, for eutrophic waters were investigated on different sediments, and under a range of nitrogen concentrations. Rotala Rotundifolia grew better on silt than on sand and gravel in terms of plant height, tiller number and biomass accumulation. Percent increment of biomass was enhanced at low water nitrogen (ammonium nitrogen concentration ≤10 mg/L). The maximum total nitrogen and total phosphorus removals in the overlying water were between 54% to 66% and 42% to 57%, respectively. Nitrogen contents in the sediments increased with increasing water nitrogen levels, whereas, nitrogen contents in the plant tissues showed no apparent regularity, and the greatest value was obtained at ammonium nitrogen concentration 15 mg/L. Both phosphorus contents in the sediments and tissues of plants were not affected significantly by additional nitrogen supply. Direct nitrogen uptake by plants was in the range of 16% to 39% when total phosphorus concentration was 1.0 mg/L. These results suggested that Rotala Rotundifolia can be used to effectively remove nitrogen and phosphorus in eutrophic waters. Copyright © 2019 The Author(s).
Original languageEnglish
Article number14855
JournalScientific Reports
Volume9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2019

Citation

Gu, C., Li, F., Xiao, J., Chu, S., Song, S., & Wong, M. H. (2019). A novel submerged Rotala rotundifolia, its growth characteristics and remediation potential for eutrophic waters. Scientific Reports, 9. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51508-y

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