Articles
Improving the water quality of a pond coupled with a vertical garden. Case study: ornamental symbiosis
Article number
1374_10
Pages
77 – 84
Language
English
Abstract
In cities, space is becoming increasingly scarce to establish new green areas.
Therefore, vertical greening systems are a promising solution, due to their multiple benefits.
Among them is the ability of vegetation to reduce air and water contamination (phytoremediation). The objective of this case study was to evaluate the performance of a vertical garden coupled to a small ornamental pond functioning as an aquaponic system.
The vertical garden was composed by felt modules and planted with different plant species: Chlorophytum comosum (Thunb.) Jacques, Fatsia japonica (Thunberg) Decne. & Planch., Ficus pumila L., Hedera helix L., Philodendron hederaceum (Jacq.) Schott, Tradescantia pallida (Rose) D.R. Hunt and Tradescantia zebrina (Bosse). It was connected to an ornamental pond with Carassius auratus (Goldfish) through underground pipes that recirculated the water between both subsystems.
An autonomous functioning of the system was observed, with a satisfactory development of plants and an improvement in the pond appearance, which was confirmed by the presence of other species: birds, frogs, and tadpoles (bio-indicators of water quality). The results showed that the connection between a vertical garden and a pond induces an ornamental symbiosis, by saving the use of water and fertilizers (taking advantage of the nutrients provided by the fish feces and food scraps), while improving the quality of the water returning to the pond, which is necessary for the wellbeing of fish.
Therefore, vertical greening systems are a promising solution, due to their multiple benefits.
Among them is the ability of vegetation to reduce air and water contamination (phytoremediation). The objective of this case study was to evaluate the performance of a vertical garden coupled to a small ornamental pond functioning as an aquaponic system.
The vertical garden was composed by felt modules and planted with different plant species: Chlorophytum comosum (Thunb.) Jacques, Fatsia japonica (Thunberg) Decne. & Planch., Ficus pumila L., Hedera helix L., Philodendron hederaceum (Jacq.) Schott, Tradescantia pallida (Rose) D.R. Hunt and Tradescantia zebrina (Bosse). It was connected to an ornamental pond with Carassius auratus (Goldfish) through underground pipes that recirculated the water between both subsystems.
An autonomous functioning of the system was observed, with a satisfactory development of plants and an improvement in the pond appearance, which was confirmed by the presence of other species: birds, frogs, and tadpoles (bio-indicators of water quality). The results showed that the connection between a vertical garden and a pond induces an ornamental symbiosis, by saving the use of water and fertilizers (taking advantage of the nutrients provided by the fish feces and food scraps), while improving the quality of the water returning to the pond, which is necessary for the wellbeing of fish.
Authors
L. Martínez-Millán, G.P. Suárez-Cáceres, R. Fernández-Cañero, S. Rossini-Oliva, V.M. Fernández-Cabanás, L. Pérez-Urrestarazu
Keywords
living wall, ornamental ponds, aquaponic systems, phytoremediation
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