The influence of duckweed species diversity on biomass productivity and nutrient removal efficiency in swine wastewater

The effect of temperature, light intensity, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations on the biomass and starch content of duckweed (Landoltia punctata OT, Lemna minor OT) in monoculture and mixture were assessed. Low light intensity promoted more starch accumulation in mixture than in monoculture. The duckweed in mixture had higher biomass and nutrient removal efficiency than those in monoculture in swine wastewater. Moreover, the ability of L. punctata C3, L. minor C2, Spirodela polyrhiza C1 and their mixtures to recovery nutrients and their biomass were analyzed. Results showed that L. minor C2 had the highest N and P content, while L. punctata C3 had the highest starch content, and the mixture of L. punctata C3 and L. minor C2 had the greatest nutrient removal rate and the highest biomass. Compared with L. punctata C3 and L. minor C2 in monoculture, their biomass in mixture increased by 17.0% and 39.8%, respectively. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved