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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Visualizing Methane-Cycling Microbial Dynamics in Coastal Wetlands
Published on: January 31, 2025
Intensified nitrogen transformation in intermittently aerated constructed wetlands: Removal pathways and microbial
Fei-Fei Liu1, Jinlin Fan2, Jinhui Du3
1Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, PR China.
Abstract:
Nitrogen (N) removal processing in vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs) with different designs often varies greatly. Here, a long term VFCWs study for domestic wastewater treatment was carried out to investigate the impact of intermittent aeration and three construction-waste media (common gravel, red brick and fly-ash brick) on N loss, N retention and microbial community. The total nitrogen (TN) removal was significantly higher in aerated VFCWs (91.31%-93.91%) compared with non-aerated VFCWs (12.22%-53.92%), with the highest removal rate in system VI filled with fly-ash brick. Nitrification/denitrification was the main N sink in aerated VFCWs accounting for 36.79%-55.44%, while media storage (8.47%-48.64%) dominated in non-aerated systems because of nitrification limitation. <16% of the TN removal was uptake by plants, and N2O emission contributed about 0.08%-0.39%. Microbial study found that functional bacteria increased with intermittently aeration. The analysis revealed the crucial influence of oxygen supply and media on N transformations in VFCWs.
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