8 research outputs found
Improved nitrogen treatment by constructed wetlands receiving partially nitrified liquid swine manure,
Abstract Denitrification is more desirable than ammonia volatilization for nitrogen removal from constructed wetlands treating animal manure but is limited by the availability of nitrate/nitrite. The research objective was to determine if partial nitrification of swine wastewater prior to wetland application affects the nitrogen removal and ammonia volatilization from constructed wetlands. From September 2000 through November 2001, partially nitrified and unaltered swine wastewater from an anaerobic waste lagoon were applied to two parallel sets of constructed wetlands (3.6 )/67 m) in North Carolina, USA. Constructed wetlands were more efficient at removing total nitrogen from partially nitrified (64 and 78%) than from unaltered wastewater (32 and 68%). Both wetlands were effective in removing nitrate/nitrite from partially nitrified wastewater. However, the Schoenoplectus -dominated wetland was more effective than the Typha-Echinochloa dominated wetland in removing total (85 vs. 61%) and ammoniacal nitrogen (91 vs. 52%) from both types of wastewater. Only one of eight tests showed significant evidence of ammonia volatilization (2.1 mg nitrogen m (2 h (1 ) when the wastewater was partially nitrified. A correlation (r 2 0/33%) between ammonia-nitrogen volatilization and ammoniacal nitrogen concentration suggested that partial nitrification reduced ammonia volatilization because it lowered ammoniacal nitrogen of the wastewater.
Effects of elevated CO<sub>2</sub> in the early life stages of summer flounder, <i>Paralichthys dentatus</i>, and potential consequences of ocean acidification
The limited available evidence about effects on marine fishes of high
CO2 and associated acidification of oceans suggests that effects will
differ across species, be subtle, and may interact with other stressors. This
report is on the responses of an array of early life history features of
summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), an ecologically and
economically important flatfish of the inshore and nearshore waters of the
Mid-Atlantic Bight (USA), to experimental manipulation of CO2 levels.
Relative survival of summer flounder embryos in local ambient conditions
(775 ÎĽatm pCO2, 7.8 pH) was reduced to 48% when
maintained at intermediate experimental conditions
(1808 ÎĽatm pCO2, 7.5 pH), and to 16% when maintained
at the most elevated CO2 treatment (4714 ppm pCO2, 7.1 pH).
This pattern of reduced survival of embryos at high-CO2 levels at
constant temperature was consistent among offspring of three females used as
experimental subjects. No reduction in survival with CO2 was observed
for larvae during the first four weeks of larval life (experiment ended at
28 d post-hatching (dph) when larvae were initiating metamorphosis).
Estimates of sizes, shapes, and developmental status of larvae based on
images of live larvae showed larvae were initially longer and faster growing
when reared at intermediate- and high-CO2 levels. This pattern of longer
larvae – but with less energy reserves at hatching – was expressed through
the first half of the larval period (14 dph). Larvae from the
highest-CO2 conditions initiated metamorphosis at earlier ages and
smaller sizes than those from intermediate- and ambient-CO2 conditions.
Tissue damage was evident in larvae as early as 7 dph from both
elevated-CO2 levels. Damage included dilation of liver sinusoids and
veins, focal hyperplasia on the epithelium, and separation of the trunk
muscle bundles. Cranio-facial features changed with CO2 levels in an
age-dependent manner. Skeletal elements of larvae from ambient-CO2
environments were comparable or smaller than those from elevated-CO2
environments when younger (7 and 14 dph) but were larger at developmental
stage at older ages (21 to 28 dph), a result consistent with the accelerated
size-development trajectory of larvae at higher-CO2 environments based
on analysis of external features. The degree of alterations in the survival,
growth, and development of early life stages of summer flounder due to
elevated-CO2 levels suggests that this species will be increasingly
challenged by future ocean acidification. Further experimental studies on
marine fishes and comparative analyses among those studies are warranted in
order to identify the species, life stages, ecologies, and responses likely
to be most sensitive to increased levels of CO2 and acidity in future
ocean waters. A strategy is proposed for achieving these goals