Abstract:Aim: Achieving reliably high production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in photodynamic therapy (PDT) remains challenging. Graphene quantum dots (GQD) hold great promise for PDT. However, the photochemical processes leading to GQD-

Summary1 The e ects of resource competition and herbivory on a target species, Triglochin maritima, were studied along a productivity gradient of vegetation biomass in a temperate salt marsh. 2 Transplants were used to measure the impact of grazing, competition and soil fertility over two growing seasons. Three parts of the marsh were selected to represent di erent successional stages; Triglochin reached local dominance at intermediate biomass of salt-marsh vegetation. At each stage, three competition treatments (full plant competition, root competition only, and no competition) and three grazing treatments (full grazing, no grazing on Triglochin, and no grazing on Triglochin or neighbours) were applied to both seedlings and mature plants.3 Competition and herbivory reduced biomass and¯owering of Triglochin. The impact of grazing was strongest at the stage with the lowest biomass, while both herbivory and competition had a signi®cant impact at the stage with the highest biomass. When plants were protected from direct herbivory, competition operated at all three successional stages. 4 Grazing reduced light competition when vegetation biomass was low or intermediate, but at high biomass there was competition for light even when grazing occurred. Herbivore exclusion increased the e ects of plant competition. Except at low biomass, the negative impact of plant competition on Triglochin performance was greater than the positive e ect of not being grazed. 5 Grazing played a minor role in seedling survival and establishment which were largely controlled by competitive and facilitative e ects. 6 Once established, the persistence of Triglochin will be determined largely by grazing. Intense grazing in the younger marsh and increasing competition for light in the older marsh will restrict the distribution to sites with intermediate biomass.

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. Basiphilous pioneer species are among the most endangered plant species in The Netherlands. They find most of their refuges in young coastal dune slacks, especially on the Wadden Sea islands. For the purpose of nature management it is important to know which processes control the presence of basiphilous pioneer communities, and to learn about the nature of slacks harbouring the concerning successional sequences. In a large dune slack on the Island of Terschelling, we assessed soil nutrient status and tested for nutrient limitation in four chronosequential stages: 2, 6, 37 and ca. 80 yr of age. Stage 2 harboured a basiphilous pioneer vegetation; in the stages 3 and 4 a dense vegetation of dwarf shrubs and grasses occurred. Soil organic matter and nutrient concentrations in each stage were measured in 1991. In 1992 and 1993 fertilizers were applied to all stages to detect nutrient limitation. Rates of accumulation of organic matter, nutrients and above‐ground biomass were estimated. When interpreted as successional stages, the different stages represent a sequence as expected on the basis of general successional theory. There was a peak in yearly nutrient accumulation between the 6‐ and 37‐yr old stage and a steady state after ca. 80 yr. Between the first two and the latter two stages a shift occurred from allogenic to autogenic succession which correlated with a shift in emphasis from available nutrients to light availability as limiting resources. Basiphilous pioneer species suffered only deficiency of nitrogen, probably because of their low phosphorus requirements. It is concluded that in dune slack habitats, in addition to a low nutrient availability in general, a very low phosphorus availability favours basiphilous pioneer species to species showing co‐limitation of nitrogen and phosphorus as found in some grasses and dwarf shrubs. A comparison between the effects of lime addition and the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus additions suggests that, in the early stages, soil buffering increases the availability of nitrogen and inhibits the availability of phosphorus. Sod cutting is an effective technique for restoring basiphilous pioneer vegetation, when slacks are acidified only superficially and buffering‐mechanisms can be reactivated. Yearly mowing and removing of standing crop may prolong the life‐span of basiphilous pioneer vegetation, when soil acidification has not yet dropped below pH 6.

Using simple methods, a crude estimate of the incidence rate of erythema migrans was obtained rapidly, and high risk areas were identified. Lyme disease appears to be an important problem in the Netherlands.

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This study investigates the metal and sulfur bonding form distribution in mesophilic (30 °C, pH 7) methanol‐grown anaerobic granular sludge from upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactors operating at an organic loading rate of 3.8 g CH3OH‐COD/L d. This was achieved by applying a modified Tessier sequential extraction scheme to investigate the metal bonding forms and a sequential extraction scheme for sulfur and simultaneously extracted metals to granular sludge samples of the reactors after 0, 22, 35 and 43 days of operation. Metals were also determined in the sulfur extracts. Co and Ni predominated in their oxidizable bonding forms, which increased together with the pseudo‐total content during reactor operation. An omission of Co and Ni from the influent led to only a minor decline of the pseudo‐total content in the sludge, mainly from the acid‐soluble fraction. The ratio of simultaneously extracted metals (Co, Fe, Mn, Ni) to acid‐volatile sulfides was lower than 1, indicating that the sludge contained sufficient sulfide to bind the metals as metal monosulfides. The bioavailability of metals in the methanol‐grown anaerobic granular sludge investigated is therefore mainly controlled by sulfide formation/dissolution.

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