Mangrove wetland use in tertiary sewage treatment to reduce

eutrophication
Isaac Sunderland
Biology 306H
Environmental Ecology
Research Paper
Introduction
Tropical coastal ecosystems around the globe are endangered for a wide variety of

reasons, including eutrophication, deforestation, aggressive development and coastal

erosion and overfishing (Along 2002, Rivera-Monroy and Twilley 2004, Segar 1998).

Many of the dangers due to anthropogenic causes unfortunately cannot be stopped

because of potential economic burden (Segar 1998).

A number of different variables affect tropical coastal ecosystems including

turbidity, temperature, biology, salinity. Turbidity is the amount of sediment and organic

material in the water column. One way to measure turbidity is to observe the amount of

light that is able to pass through a controlled length of water. A tropical coastal system

has a temperature range between 25oC and 40oC. Tropical coasts tend to be saline, due to

upwelling, especially in the Pacific Ocean (Segar 1998). As seen in Figure 1, the biology

of the coastal ecosystem changes based on how much light and nutrients are available.

High nutrient inputs tend to correspond with lower penetration of light, and conversely

high light penetration corresponds to low nutrients. Observe in Figure 1 how coral reefs

require lots of light, but have low nutrient availability, whereas mangroves ecosystems

grow across the spectrum of light and nutrients. At low cost economically and high

benefit to the ecosystem, nutrient inputs could be reduced by using mangroves to perform

tertiary sewage treatment to reduce eutrophication, and river sediment loads.

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 Intense human activity and development occurs along coasts, especially tropical

Figure 1 Conceptual framework of the interaction between the amount of light, nutrient
inputs, and water residence time across different types of estuaries, based on geomorphology
from carbonate reefs to river-dominated deltas. The horizontal arrows indicate an increase
or decrease of sediment and nutrient inputs, wetland-to-estuary ratio, and benthic and
pelagic productivity. The presence or absence of mangroves, sea grasses, and coral reefs in
each coastal setting is indicated by the bars, as are the influences of fresh water and plankton
productivity. Numbers representing study sites were placed along the bars depending on the
dominant ecosystem found at each site: 1, Everglades, Florida; 2, Puerto Rico (wet); 3,
Puerto Rico (dry); 4, San Juan, Venezuela; 5, Morrocoy National Park, Venezuela; 6, Los
Roques, Venezuela; 7, Cíenaga Grande, Colombia; 8, Bocas del Toro, Panama; 9, Twin
Cays, Belize; 10, northern Belize wetland complex; 11, Sian Ka'an, Mexico; 12, Celestun
Lagoon, Mexico; 13, Terminos lagoon, Mexico. Modified from (Rivera-Monroy and Twilley
2004).

ones (Rivera-Monroy and Twilley 2004). Tropical coastal regions have natural harbors,

and are excellent places for docks to be constructed, for both fishing and shipment. Many

tropical coastal harbors, located along trade routes, are dredged and channeled to allow

commercial traffic flow. Commercial fishing requires the use of long trowel and other

techniques that scrape the coastal seafloor of life. Housing and business development

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require changes to the coastline to prevent property damage. Significant portions of the

economies of coastal tropical countries rely heavily on both tourism and travel (Rivera-

Monroy and Twilley 2004), which would diminish with the destruction of these delicate

ecosystems. Unfortunately, human development along the tropical coasts has lead to an

excess of waste generated and a degradation of coastal seascape. As human activity

increases, so does human waste production. The waste products that flow to the ocean

cause numerous problems (Rivera-Monroy and Twilley 2004).

Nutrient increases lead to eutrophication. Eutrophication has many detrimental

effects on the ecosystem, including changes in diversity, sediment smothering of benthic

habitats, and changes to the ecological structure of the marine organisms (National

Research Council 2000). Excessive nutrients have a number of harmful effects, including

the creation harmful algae blooms, and anoxic zones in the nearshore (Segar 1998). One

of the main nutrients involved in estuarine eutrophication is nitrogen, in the form of

nitrates and ammonium, because estuaries are N-limited (National Research Council

2000). As shown in a study done over 17 years by Elmgren and Larsson (translation by

the National Research Council 2000), nitrogen outputs by sewage treatment plants have

direct effects on primary production. An estuary located south of Stockholm, Sweden,

showed a measurable decrease in primary production as nitrogen output was lowered

(National Research Council 2000).

Algal blooms, defined as a large growth of diatom algae, occur with an increased

nutrient input (Segar 1998, National Research Council 2000, Davis and Cable 2004,

Barile 2004, Kozak and Gołdyn 2004). Diatoms are limited solely by what nutrients are

available to them. When nutrients increase, diatom growth increases. Eventually oxygen

is consumed when the diatoms die and are consumed by detrital feeders, causing anoxia

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(Segar 1998). When diatom growth occurs too quickly, carbon cycles out of the water

column into the sediments and oxygen and other nutrients are consumed. A harmful algal

bloom can directly harm the health of fish, shellfish and humans.

Mangrove wetlands are composed of mangrove trees typically found, as shown in

Figure 2, in tropical and subtropical regions (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries 2003).

They occupy an area roughly 181,000ha (Along 2002), and have been lost at a rate of 1/3

of the total area over the last 50 years. Mangroves have both economic and ecological

uses, including wood production for timber and fuel, livestock feed, and coastal

protection. Traditionally mangroves were felled and replaced for shrimp ponds (Along

Figure 2 Distribution and biogeographical provinces of the world’s mangrove forests. Forests are
designated as heavy lines. The numbers of genera and species within each of the six provinces are
noted below the map. Modified from (Along 2002).

2002); however it has been shown that shrimp ponds rely on surrounding mangroves to

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provide certain functions. Mangroves function as a life support system for all the

surrounding area. Mangrove tree forests collect the sediment and excess nutrients

reducing the turbidity in the water (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries 2003).

Current sewage treatment plants flow sewage effluent, defined as the stream of

liquid wastewater, through two stages. A primary stage removes solid waste from the

sewage effluent. This process filters the effluent through a mesh (Kae-Long Lin and

Chung-Yi Lin 2004). Old sewage systems stopped at this stage and let the rest of the

effluent flow into the sea (Lin and Lin 2004). Modern treatment systems have a second

system that uses microorganisms to filter and feed on organic compounds contained in

the effluent (Atkinson and Atkinson 2003). After the effluent is digested, the

microorganisms are filtered out and the effluent is released to the ocean (Atkinson and

Atkinson 2003). Both of these processes are incapable of removing nutrients

(ammonium, nitrates, and phosphates) from the effluent. To remove the nutrients, the

effluent needs to pass through a third tertiary system. Such as a wetland ideally, because

of it low maintenance and cost. Wetlands have lower maintenance and cost requirements

because once they have been planted and established, they are self regulating (Along

2002).

Materials and Methods

This paper is a compilation of current research on the topic of eutrophication

caused by sewage treatment plants. EBSCOhost and Google Scholar were used to collect

peer reviewed journal articles to be used as resources. The information was distilled into

this report. By no means is this a complete repository of information, but it gives a broad

overview of the subject. Although this paper is specific to tropical estuarine situations,

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data from around the world in all type estuarine environments were used to make

inferences about tropical estuaries.

Results
Great interest has been placed into the possibility of using wetlands for coast

restoration. Some successful nutrient reductions by wetlands have been observed.

Unfortunately, often results from wetland nutrient reduction are mixed and it is not clear

if the mangrove wetland is accomplishing the task, or if it is some other process. Some

studies suggest that wetlands can reduce nitrogen anywhere from 20 - 55% (National

Research Council 2000, Jin and Kelley 2002). Nitrogen reduction depends on the type

vegetation in the mangrove. Phosphorus reduction is much higher 30-80% (Kozak and

Gołdyn 2004, Jin and Kelley 2002, Jöbgen and Palm 2004).

Another important question is about any adverse effects on the biology of the

system. The trees grow at a higher rate when given increased amounts of nutrients. Does

the increased vegetation affect the benthic organisms? Does the wastewater itself affect

them? According to research done by Ri-Qing Yu et. al in 1997, benthic macrofauna are

not adversely affected by wastewater. Increased algal growth could potentially crowd out

other plant organisms, including mangrove trees, and sea grasses. This is something that

would have to be carefully monitored as part of a coastal management strategy.

Mangrove wetlands both reduce turbidity and decrease sedimentation allowing

more light to enter the system, and enable increased growth (Along 2002, Ministry of

Agriculture and Fisheries 2003). Mangroves also reduce erosion along the coast. In the

past, artificial barriers have been built to replace functions once provided by the

mangroves (Along 2002). The mangroves need to be replanted. Once the mangroves are

reestablished, they can resume nutrient reduction functions in the coastal ecosystem.

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