Responses of phytoplankton and Hyalella azteca to agrichemical mixtures in a constructed wetland mesocosm.

We assessed the capability of a constructed wetland to mitigate toxicity of a variety of possible mixtures, such as nutrients only (NO) (nitrogen [N], phosphorus [P]), pesticides only (PO) (atrazine, S-metolachlor, permethrin), and nutrients + pesticides on phytoplankton chlorophyll-a, on 48-h aqueous Hyalella azteca survival and 10-day sediment H. azteca survival and growth. Water and sediment were collected at 10-, 20-, and 40-m distances from inflow and analyzed for nutrients, pesticides, chlorophyll-a, and H. azteca laboratory bioassays. Phytoplankton chlorophyll-a increased 4- to 10 -fold at 7 days after NO treatment. However, responses of chlorophyll-a to PO and nutrients + pesticides were more complex with associated decreases at only 20 m for pesticides only and 10 and 40 m for nutrients + pesticides treatments. H. azteca aqueous survival decreased within the first 48 h of dosing at 10- and 20-m distances during PO and nutrients + pesticides treatments in association with permethrin concentrations. H. azteca sediment survival was unaffected, whereas 10-day growth decreased within 1 day of dosing at all sites during nutrients + pesticides treatment. Constructed wetlands were shown to be an effective agricultural best-management tool for trapping pollutants and mitigating ecological impacts of run-off in agricultural watersheds.