Assessing the risk of utilizing tidal coastal wetlands for wastewater management
| Autor: | Shawn Dayson Shifflett, Joseph P. Schubauer-Berigan |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Environmental Engineering
Marsh Nitrogen 0208 environmental biotechnology Wetland 02 engineering and technology Wastewater 010501 environmental sciences Management Monitoring Policy and Law 01 natural sciences Swamp Article Ecosystem services Ecosystem Waste Management and Disposal 0105 earth and related environmental sciences geography geography.geographical_feature_category General Medicine Southeastern United States 020801 environmental engineering Productivity (ecology) Wetlands Environmental science Sewage treatment Water resource management |
| Zdroj: | J Environ Manage |
| ISSN: | 0301-4797 |
| Popis: | Coastal tidal wetlands are well recognized for the key ecosystem services they provide such as flood protection, water quality improvement, and carbon sequestration. In the southeastern United States, some communities rely on coastal wetlands for the management of secondarily treated effluents in forested and emergent wetlands. Advocates for this practice have argued that wetlands can assimilate nitrogen from wastewater, which can improve cypress-tupelo swamp productivity, and enhance marsh accretion rates to mitigate the effects of sea level rise. In contrast, evolving research on coastal wetlands and the environmental impacts of wastewater treatment pose new questions about the potential risks introduced by this practice. This review seeks to: (1) assess current research on plant productivity in fertilized coastal wetlands; (2) highlight the occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in municipal wastewater operations; and (3) identify knowledge gaps. Nutrient additions via wastewater augmented aboveground productivity, but decreased belowground productivity and root-to-shoot ratios. Removal efficiencies of some PPCPs by coastal wetlands have been substantial (75% - 99%), but most remain unevaluated. Furthermore, their fate and effect on local ecosystem function and biogeochemical processes remain in question. This review demonstrates that there is more research needed at both local and watershed scales to evaluate how these risk factors impact ecosystem integrity and to better understand the tradeoffs with this wastewater management practice. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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