High rate algal pond (HRAP) was combined with constructed wetland (CW) to intensify nitrogen removal through optimizing nitrification and denitrification. Nitrification and denitrification process mainly depends on the oxygen content and carbon source level in CWs. Algal biomass was enriched in HRAP, and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration was increased via photosynthesis. Algal debris increased COD as degradable bioresource. The results showed that HRAP-CW hybrid systems effectively promoted the nitrogen removal performance due to rich DO and COD. The extension of hydraulic retention time in HRAP significantly improved NH4-N and TN removals by 10.9% and 11.1% in hybrid systems, respectively. The highest NH4-N and TN removals in hybrid systems respectively reached 67.2% and 63.5%, which were significantly higher than those in single CW. The study suggested that the hybrid system had the application potentials in nitrogen removal from wastewater. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.