4 Wetland Ecosystems: Introduction and Basic
Characteristics
The ability of wetland ecosystems to act as a source or sink for conditioning of
nutrients and carbon has led their widespread use in the environment. These possess
bunch of resources that are highly important for plant and animal life. They exist
either as natural or constructed wetland form and further characterized by several
factors like presence of water, presence of vegetation, and nature of soil (Cheng et al.
2002). These are best reserved for finishing of prior partially treated industrial or
domestic waste with specific pollutants removal (pesticides, nitrogen, phosphorus,
selenium, copper, lead, organic compounds, viruses, or protozoan cysts) from waste
material. The plants present in wetland facilitate the major mechanisms for removal
of contaminants; process called phytoremediation has been developed as a costeffective and environment-friendly method for remediation of contaminated water.
Fig. 11.6 A wetland ecosystem
11 Toxic Metals in Industrial Wastewaters and Phytoremediation Using. . .
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Characteristics
The ability of wetland ecosystems to act as a source or sink for conditioning of
nutrients and carbon has led their widespread use in the environment. These possess
bunch of resources that are highly important for plant and animal life. They exist
either as natural or constructed wetland form and further characterized by several
factors like presence of water, presence of vegetation, and nature of soil (Cheng et al.
2002). These are best reserved for finishing of prior partially treated industrial or
domestic waste with specific pollutants removal (pesticides, nitrogen, phosphorus,
selenium, copper, lead, organic compounds, viruses, or protozoan cysts) from waste
material. The plants present in wetland facilitate the major mechanisms for removal
of contaminants; process called phytoremediation has been developed as a costeffective and environment-friendly method for remediation of contaminated water.
Fig. 11.6 A wetland ecosystem
11 Toxic Metals in Industrial Wastewaters and Phytoremediation Using. . .
269