Interaction of Reed Litter and Biochar Presences on Performances of Constructed Wetlands

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are frequently used for effective biological treatment of nitrogen-rich wastewater with external carbon source addition; however, these approaches often neglect the performances of the interaction between plant litter and biochar in CW environments. To address this, we conducted a comprehensive study to assess the impacts of single or combined addition of common reed litter and reed biochar (pyrolyzed at 300 and 500°C) on nitrogen removal, greenhouse gas emission, dissolved organic matter (DOM) dynamics, and microbial activity. The results showed that combined addition of reed litter and biochar to CWs significantly improved nitrate and total nitrogen removal compared with biochar addition alone. Compared to those without reed litter addition, CWs with reed litter addition had more low-molecular-weight and less aromatic DOM and more protein-like fluorescent DOM, which favored the enrichment of bacteria associated with denitrification. The improved nitrogen removal could be attributed to increases in denitrifying microbes and the relative abundance of functional denitrification genes with litter addition. Moreover, the combined addition of reed litter and 300°C-heated biochar significantly decreased nitrous oxide (30.7%) and methane (43.9%) compared to reed litter addition alone, while the combined addition of reed litter and 500°C-heated biochar did not. This study demonstrated that the presences of reed litter and biochar in CWs could achieve both high microbial nitrogen removal and relatively low greenhouse gas emissions.