Data detailed in'Hierarchical eco-restoration: a systematical approach to removal of COD and dissolved nutrients from an intensive agricultural area' have been presented. According to recent research published in the journal Environmental Pollution. A systematical approach based on hierarchical eco-restoration system for the simultaneous removal of COD and dissolved nutrients was proposed and applied in a complex residential-cropland area in Kunming, China from August 2006 to August 2008, where the self-purifying capacity of the agricultural ecosystem had been lost. The system includes four main parts: (1) fertilizer management and agricultural structure optimization, (2) nutrients reuse, (3) wastewater treatment, and (4) catchment restoration. The results showed that the average removal efficiencies were 90% for COD, 93% for ammonia, 94% for nitrate and 71% for total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) when the hierarchical eco-restoration agricultural system was in a relatively steady-state condition. The emergence of 14 species of macrophytes and 4 species of zoobenthos indicated that the growth conditions for the plankton were improved. The results demonstrated that this promising and environmentally benign hierarchical eco-restoration system could decrease the output of nutrients and reduce downstream eutrophication risk.

State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 71 Beijing East Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China; Graduate Schools, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.

Name: Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)
ISSN: 1873-6424