Artificial Cultivation of Aquatic Plants Promotes Nitrogen Transformation and the Abundance of Key Functional Genes in Agricultural Drainage Ditch Sediments in the Yellow River Irrigation Area in China

Yu Hong, Ziqi He, Ruliang Liu, Wenhua Xiang, Pifeng Lei and Xi Fang ()
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Yu Hong: College of Life and Environmental Science, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Ziqi He: College of Life and Environmental Science, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Ruliang Liu: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science, Yinchuan 750002, China
Wenhua Xiang: College of Life and Environmental Science, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Pifeng Lei: College of Life and Environmental Science, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Xi Fang: College of Life and Environmental Science, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-29

Abstract: Excess nitrogen in agricultural drainage poses a serious threat to the water quality safety of the Yellow River basin. Utilizing aquatic plants to modify the rhizosphere microbial community structure and facilitate nitrogen transformation is a crucial strategy for mitigating regional water eutrophication. We here compare key processes of nitrogen transformation occurring in the rhizosphere of sediments of a ditch artificially planted with a mix of species ( Phragmites australis , Typha orientalis , Nymphaea tetragon ) with the rhizosphere of a ditch occupied by naturally occurring aquatic vegetation, dominated either by P. australis or T. orientalis . Our results revealed a species effect, with an increased denitrification rate (DR) and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium rate (DNRAR) in the cultivated ditch for P. australis , compared to the naturally occurring T. orientalis vegetation. The nitrogen fixation rate (NFR) increased in the artificial setting with T. orientalis in comparison to natural P. australis vegetation. The richness of the bacterial community and the relative abundances of Bacteroidota , Firmicutes , and Geobacter were significantly greater in the rhizosphere of the artificially cultivated ditch due a greater availability in nitrogen and organic carbon. In the artificially cultivated ditch, the dominant functional genes affecting DRNARs in the rhizosphere sediments of P. australis were nrfC and nrfA , whereas DRs were driven mainly by norB and napA , which were influenced by the nitrogen and carbon levels. The dominant functional genes affecting NFRs in the rhizosphere sediments of T. orientalis were nifD , nifK , and nifH . Our results provide a scientific basis for the use of aquatic plants for mitigating excess nitrogen levels in agricultural drainage.

Keywords: denitrification; DNRA; functional gene of nitrogen transformation; rhizosphere sediments; Phragmites australis; Typha orientalis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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