Tracing sewage water by 15N in a mangrove ecosystem to test its bioremediation ability

Mangrove forests could be a simple and effective alternative to conventional sewage treatment, particularly for island communities given its low cost and low maintenance. Due to their high adaptation capacity, these plants are able to tolerate and bioremediate the high levels of nutrients and pollutants found in sewage water. This solution could be applied to small tropical islands with high population density such as Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. This paper reports on a trial by stable isotopic (15)N tracing of such a bioremediation process on pre-treated wastewater near the village of Malamani, in the middle of the large coastal mangrove in the bay near Chirongui. The first results show a boost in the mangrove growth, but a longer period of observation is needed to confirm the beneficial effects, and also to clarify the role of the local crab population, whose engineering activities play an important part in the ecosystem. The exact denitrification process is not yet understood, and the mass balance equation also reveals loss of nitrogen-containing compounds, which needs to be analyzed more closely.