animal and poultry
waste management research:
a progress report

Evaluation of Wetland Plant Species for Use in Constructed Wetlands
The Animal and Poultry Waste Management Center

This project looked at plants that grow in wetland environments in an effort to determine which plants may be most useful in constructed wetlands designed to remove nitrogen from swine waste. Plant growth was monitored around eight beaver ponds in an effort to identify native plant species that survive, persist and increase naturally in a wetland environment. A list of plants has been produced, and data are now being analyzed to determine which species occur most frequently at different water depths and how soil chemistry affects the plants. At the same time, two wetland plant species common to North Carolina -- the soft-stemmed rush and lizard tail -- were tested in a greenhouse to determine their ability to transport oxygen through their root systems. The ability to translocate oxygen into a root system helps wetland plants survive in a wetland environment. Supplying oxygen to the surrounding soil through roots enhances nitrification, the aerobic process of turning ammonium into nitrate, a form of nitrogen plants can use. Nitrate, in turn, is subject to denitrification, the process that turns nitrate into atmospheric nitrogen. Of the two species, soft-stemmed rush appears the more effective at translocating oxygen to its root system.

Funding: $13,200
Source: USDA grant
Status: Ongoing

Principal Investigator: Dr. Jon M. Stucky, associate professor, Botany, North Carolina State University, phone: (919) 515-2227, email: JMSTUCKY@UNITY.NCSU.EDU

Collaborator: Dr. Stephen W. Broome, professor, Soil Science, North Carolina State University