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The aquatic fern Salvinia molesta is classified as an invasive, noxious weed in southern Africa. It has rapid growth and forms a thick mat in slow moving water bodies. It is hypothesized that S. molesta is a suitable candidate to promote as an organic fertilizer. The aims of this study were to determine the mineral content as well as the cytokinin and auxin content in S. molesta. The release of these compounds into the culture medium and upon decomposition of the air-dried plant matter was also determined. Minerals detected in the fresh plant material were N > K > P > Ca > Mg > Fe > Na > Cu > Zn while Cd, Pb and Ni were below the level of detection. The mineral concentrations changed after 14 days decomposition with there being an increase in Ca, Mg and Fe and a decrease in K. Sixteen isoprenoid cytokinins were detected in the plant material (total concentration 81.62 pmol g −1 DW) while only four cytokinins occurred at a greatly reduced concentration in the culture medium (4.31 pmol 500 ml −1 medium). The material that had been composted for 14 days showed a 17% reduction in cytokinin concentration (67.96 pmol g −1 DW) compared to the plant material. Run-off, termed leachate, collected during the composting experiment also had high amounts of cytokinin-like activity measured using the soybean callus bioassay. This activity peaked on day 7 of the composting experiment, indicating a rapid release of cytokinin-like compounds. IAA occurred in much higher concentrations than the cytokinins in the plant material (393.6 pmol g −1 DW) while very little IAA was detected in the culture medium (30.8 pmol g −1 DW). IAA concentrations were much lower in the composted material (148.1 pmol g −1 DW) with a 62% loss being recorded compared to the plant material. No auxin-like activity was measured using the mungbean rooting bioassay in the leachate collected at the start of the composting experiment. However, the leachate collected on days 7 and 14 had biological activity indicating that auxin-like compounds were released from S. molesta upon decomposition.

a b s t r a c tThe aquatic quillwort, Isoëtes echinospora, survived the strong water acidification during 1960s-1990s in Plešné Lake (Bohemian Forest, Central Europe), but failed to reproduce. We studied the relationships between a recent population recovery and an improvement of lake water quality. We used correlation analysis to evaluate lagged seasonal effects of lake water quality on population dynamics during the past decade, and factor analysis to determine the independent factors responsible for population recovery. We also provided a water-quality-based reconstruction of population growth from the beginning of the lake recovery two decades ago, using a partial least squares regression (PLSR) model of population growth. We identified three independent controlling factors: nutrients (nitrate, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, magnesium), stressors (pH, ionic aluminium) and temperature. Of these, nutrient availability did not limit the quillwort growth, but annual mean pH and winter mean concentrations of toxic ionic aluminium influenced population growth through negative effects on sporeling establishment until the age of one year, while cumulative temperature in spring and summer controlled the later plant growth. Thus, water quality in the acidified Plešné Lake mainly controls recruitment success rather than adult survival of Isoëtes echinospora. This study provides the first in situ evidence that the recruitment success, namely the annual increment in the adult quillwort population, indicates the degree of recovery from acidification, however further extensive investigation is required to more accurately quantify, and therefore understand, the relationships between recruitment, water quality and other factors.

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