FAS Abstracts 2004 Meeting Page

Biological Sciences (BIO B): BIO-16

|search by author| |return to BIO B 2004| |return to FAS 2004|

Comparison of the phosphorus removal performance of native and exotic submerged macrophytes. T. AUTER (1), M. SEES (2) and F. DIERBERG (1).  (1) DB Environmental, Inc., 365 Gus Hipp Blvd. Rockledge, FL 32955, (2) City of Orlando Public Works Dept., Orlando, FL. We performed a mesocosm study to assess the comparative phosphorus (P) removal performance of two native (Najas guadalupensis and Ceratophyllum demersum) and one exotic (Hydrilla verticillata) submerged macrophyte. The macrophyte culture systems were fed tertiary-treated domestic effluent at a hydraulic loading rate of 8.6 cm/day. Over a 10 month period, average inflow total P concentrations of 95 µg/L were reduced to 30, 34 and 43 µg/L by Najas, Ceratophyllum and Hydrilla, respectively. Outflow soluble reactive P (SRP) concentrations from the Hydrilla mesocosms averaged 20 µg/L, whereas outflow SRP levels from the mecososms containing native species were below 5 µg/L.  Reasons for the poorer P removal performance by Hydrilla are unknown, but may be related to differences in physiology or plant habit.