Pedosphere 14(3): 401--404, 2004
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2004 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
Root zone microbial populations, urease activities, and purification efficiency for a constructed wetland
LIANG Wei1, WU Zhen-Bin2, ZHAN Fa-Cui2 and DENG Jia-Qi2
1 Environment Simulation and Pollution Control State Key Joint Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China). E-mail: liangwei02@tsinghua.org.cn
2 State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072 (China)
ABSTRACT
      In order to investigate the effects of microorganisms and their urease activities in macrophytic root zones on pollutant removal, four small-scale plots (SSPs) of vertical/reverse-vertical flow wetlands were set up to determine: a) the relationship between the abundance of microorganisms in the root zones and water purification efficiency; and b) the relationship between urease activities in the root zones and pollutant removal in a constructed wetland system. Total numbers of the microbial population (bacteria, fungi, and actinomyces) along with urease activities in the macrophytic root zones were determined. In addition, the relationships between microbial populations and urease activities as well as the wastewater purification efficiencies of total phosphorus (TP), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), biochemical oxygen demand in 5 days (BOD5), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were also analyzed. The results showed that there was a highly significant positive correlation (r = 0.9772, P < 0.01) between the number of bacteria in the root zones and BOD5 removal efficiency and a significant negative correlation (r = -0.9092, P < 0.05) between the number of fungi and the removal efficiency of TKN. Meanwhile, there was a significant positive correlation (r = 0.8830, P < 0.05) between urease activities in the root zones and the removal efficiency of TKN. Thus, during wastewater treatment in a constructed wetland system, microorganism and urease activities in the root zones were very important factors.
Key Words:  macrophytic root zone, microbial population, purification efficiency, urease activity, wetland
Citation: Liang, W., Wu, Z. B., Zhan, F. C. and Deng, J. Q. 2004. Root zone microbial populations, urease activities, and purification efficiency for a constructed wetland. Pedosphere. 14(3): 401-404.
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