Plant carnivory beyond bogs: reliance on prey feeding inDrosophyllum lusitanicum(Drosophyllaceae) in dry Mediterranean heathland habitats

In a cost-benefit framework, plant carnivory is hypothesized to be an adaptation to nutrient-poor soils in sunny, wetland habitats. However, apparent exceptions to this cost-benefit model exist, although they have been rarely studied. One of these exceptions is the carnivorous subshrub Drosophyllum lusitanicum , which thrives in Mediterranean heathlands on dry sandstone soils and has relatively well-developed, xeromorphic roots. Here, the roles of leaf (carnivory) and root (soil) nutrient uptake in growth promotion of this particular species were assessed.