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Full paper
Reliance on prey-derived nitrogen by the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia decreases with increasing nitrogen deposition
Article first published online: 16 APR 2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04139.x
© 2012 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2012 New Phytologist Trust
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How to Cite
Millett, J., Svensson, B. M., Newton, J. and Rydin, H. (2012), Reliance on prey-derived nitrogen by the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia decreases with increasing nitrogen deposition. New Phytologist, 195: 182–188. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04139.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 24 MAY 2012
- Article first published online: 16 APR 2012
- Received: 23 January 2012, Accepted: 29 February 2012
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Keywords:
- carnivorous plants;
- nutrient use;
- plant–animal interactions;
- pollution;
- stable isotope analysis
Summary
- •Carnivory in plants is presumed to be an adaptation to a low-nutrient environment. Nitrogen (N) from carnivory is expected to become a less important component of the N budget as root N availability increases.
- •Here, we investigated the uptake of N via roots versus prey of the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia growing in ombrotrophic bogs along a latitudinal N deposition gradient through Sweden, using a natural abundance stable isotope mass balance technique.
- •Drosera rotundifolia plants receiving the lowest level of N deposition obtained a greater proportion of N from prey (57%) than did plants on bogs with higher N deposition (22% at intermediate and 33% at the highest deposition). When adjusted for differences in plant mass, this pattern was also present when considering total prey N uptake (66, 26 and 26 μg prey N per plant at the low, intermediate and high N deposition sites, respectively). The pattern of mass-adjusted root N uptake was opposite to this (47, 75 and 86 μg N per plant).
- •Drosera rotundifolia plants in this study switched from reliance on prey N to reliance on root-derived N as a result of increasing N availability from atmospheric N deposition.