Natural and constructed littoral zones as nutrient traps in eutrophicated shallow lakes

Abstract

It is generally known that the water quality of shallow lakes can be influenced significantly by marginal wetlands. In order to study the efficacy of constructed littoral wetlands in the IJsselmeer area (The Netherlands) for water quality improvement, a field survey was carried out in 2003. Vegetation, soil, pore water and surface water characteristics were measured in spring and summer in two types of littoral zones: natural and constructed for 8-16 years. The study showed that constructed wetlands perform well and are suitable to enlarge the vegetated littoral zone in the IJsselmeer area. In both natural and constructed sites vegetation biomass varied between 2,200 g m -2 for helophyte vegetation and 1,300 g m -2 for low herbaceous vegetation. Nutrient concentrations in the pore water of constructed sites tended to be higher than in natural sites. PO 3À 4 and NH þ 4 concentrations in pore water were much lower when vegetation was present, probably as a result of plant uptake. The N and P accumulation rate in the soil of constructed wetlands was 20 g N m -2 y -1 and 3 g P m -2 y -1 in vegetated plots; without vegetation the rate was much lower (8 g N m -2 y -1 and 1.8 g P m -2 y -1 ). We conclude that concerning their effect on water quality, constructed sites may replace natural sites, at least after 8-16 years. Principal component analysis showed a relationship between vegetation biomass and flooding, and nutrient concentrations in soil and pore water. Biomass was negatively correlated with extractable nutrients and positively with soil total N and P content. Flooding duration was negatively related to pore water salinity and positively to pore water nutrients. Due to their high biomass, helophyte stands retained significantly more nutrients than low pioneer vegetation and are therefore more suitable for improving water quality.

Increased nutrient loading and rapid changes in phytoplankton expected with climate change in stratified South European lakes: sensitivity of lakes with different trophic state and catchment properties

“…6 The seasonal dynamics of the PTSI values for the sampling days. The values are not adjusted to the scale from 0.5 to 5.5 and type specific class boundaries according to are indicated on the y-axis Nilsson & Renöfält, 2008;Sollie et al, 2008;Lopez et al, 2009) and so these ecosystems could trap also a substantial part of the nutrient runoff from the L. Varese catchment. In L. Monate catchment there are no other water bodies or wetland areas that could retain part of the loading from runoff.…”

Nitrogen uptake and cycling in Phragmites australis in a lake-receiving nutrient-rich mine water: a 15N tracer study

“…Dense stands of P. australis may grow in wetlands, along the shores of rivers, lakes and ponds, and along roadsides (Campbell and Ogden 1999). Due to its adaptability and deep root structure, it is considered as an effective species for nutrient removal in both constructed wetlands (Tanner 1996;Nijburg and Laanbroek 1997;Vymazal 2013) and lakes (Sollie et al 2008). For rooted macrophytes, lake sediments are generally the primary source for the macronutrients N and P (Barko et al 1991).…”

“…Assimilation of N by littoral microbes (periphyton) is another important N transformation pathway. Small, shallow lakes often have an extensive littoral zone (Schindler and Scheurell 2002) that may be important for nutrient uptake and recycling (Sollie et al 2008;Epstein et al 2012).…”

Estudio de los Humedales Artificiales de Flujo Superficial del Tancat de la Pipa como instrumentos para la restauración ambiental del lago de l'Albufera de Valencia

“…Además de todas estas aplicaciones, cada vez es más común restaurar humedales o construir unos nuevos para proteger de la contaminación difusa áreas de alto valor ecológico y mejorar el hábitat y la diversidad biológica (Uusi-Kamppa et al, 2000;Comín et al, 2001;Mitsch & Grosselink, 1993;Moreno et al, 2007;Mitsch, 1992;Zedler, 2003;Jiang et al, 2007;Sollie et al, 2008). Mención especial merecen los trabajos que se están llevando a cabo en los Everglades (Florida, EEUU) para protegerlos de las entradas de fósforo procedentes de la escorrentía agrícola y urbana (Kadlec, 2006;Chimney & Goforth, 2006;Pietro & Ivanhoff, 2015;Chen et al, 2015).…”

“…En la literatura es común encontrar humedales destinados a reducir las cargas de nitrógeno procedentes de la escorrentía agrícola (Hammer, 1992;Comín et al, 1997Comín et al, , 2001Woltemade, 2000;Mitsch et al, 2001;Braskerud, 2002b;Koskiaho et al, 2003;Jordan et al, 2003;Mitsch et al, 2005;Kadlec, 2005b;Kovacic et al, 2006;Moreno et al, 2007;Jiang et al, 2007;Sollie et al, 2008;Garcia-Garcia et al, 2009;Beutel et al, 2009;Kadlec et al, 2010a;Díaz et al, 2012). Estos sistemas protegen del impacto de la contaminación difusa de origen agrícola a los ríos y lagos situados en las partes más bajas de las cuencas.…”