Effect of plant species on nitrogen recovery in aquaponics

Zhen Hu; Jae Woo Lee; Kartik Chandran; Sungpyo Kim; Ariane Coelho Brotto; Samir Kumar Khanal

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2015.01.013

Effect of plant species on nitrogen recovery in aquaponics

Bioresour Technol. 2015:188:92-8. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.01.013. Epub 2015 Jan 20.

Authors

Zhen Hu¹, Jae Woo Lee², Kartik Chandran³, Sungpyo Kim², Ariane Coelho Brotto³, Samir Kumar Khanal⁴

Affiliations

¹ Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China.
² Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Science and Technology, Korea University, Sejong-ro 2511, Sejong 339-700, South Korea.
³ Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, 500 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA.
⁴ Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. Electronic address: khanal@hawaii.edu.

PMID: 25650140
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.01.013

Abstract

Nitrogen transformations in aquaponics with different edible plant species, i.e., tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) and pak choi (Brassica campestris L. subsp. chinensis) were systematically examined and compared. Results showed that nitrogen utilization efficiencies (NUE) of tomato- and pak choi-based aquaponic systems were 41.3% and 34.4%, respectively. The abundance of nitrifying bacteria in tomato-based aquaponics was 4.2-folds higher than that in pak choi-based aquaponics, primarily due to its higher root surface area. In addition, tomato-based aquaponics had better water quality than that of pak choi-based aquaponics. About 1.5-1.9% of nitrogen input were emitted to atmosphere as nitrous oxide (N2O) in tomato- and pak choi-based aquaponic systems, respectively, suggesting that aquaponics is a potential anthropogenic source of N2O emission. Overall, this is the first intensive study that examined the role plant species played in aquaponics, which could provide new strategy in designing and operating an aquaponic system.

Keywords: Ammonia oxidizing bacteria; Aquaponics; Nitrogen transformations; Nitrous oxide; Plant species.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Ammonia / chemistry
Animals
Brassica / metabolism*
Fishes
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Hydroponics*
Nitrogen / analysis*
Nitrogen / chemistry
Nitrous Oxide / chemistry
Plant Leaves
Plant Roots / physiology
Solanum lycopersicum / metabolism*
Temperature
Water / chemistry

Substances

Water
Ammonia
Nitrous Oxide
Nitrogen