New insights into the effects of wetland plants on nitrogen removal pathways in constructed wetlands with low C/N ratio wastewater: Contribution of partial denitrification-anammox

Nitrogen (N) removal in constructed wetlands (CWs) was often challenged by limited denitrification due to the lack of carbon source, and wetland plants would be more important in carbon (C) and N cycling in CWs with influent of low carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio. In this study, the underlying mechanisms of nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) removal under different low C/N ratios were revealed by constructing microcosm CWs, and the unplanted group was set as the control to explore the role of plants in N removal. The results showed that plants and the concentration of influent carbon significantly affected NO3−-N and total nitrogen (TN) removal (p < 0.05). The presence of plants significantly increased the concentration of DO and wetland plant-derived DOM (p < 0.05). The enhanced NO3−-N and TN removal with increased C/N ratio attributed to high denitrification activity reflected in the abundance of denitrification microbes and genes. However, the contribution of partial denitrification-anammox (PDN/AMX) to N removal in CWs decreased from more than 75.3% at the C/N ratio of 0 to 70.4% and 22.3% with the C/N ratio increased to 1.5 and 3, respectively. Furthermore, the PDN/AMX process was negatively correlated with favorable oxygen environment in the planted group and plants roots carbon secretion, but the overall N removal efficiency of the CWs was enhanced by increased abundance of N removal-related functional genes in the presence of plants. Abovementioned results provided new insights to explain the mechanism of N removal in CWs under low C/N ratio.