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Reliance on prey‐derived nitrogen by the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia decreases with increasing nitrogen deposition
Author(s) -
Millett J.,
Svensson B. M.,
Newton J.,
Rydin H.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04139.x
Subject(s) - carnivorous plant , bog , deposition (geology) , nitrogen , botany , biology , nutrient , ombrotrophic , predation , chemistry , ecology , peat , paleontology , organic chemistry , sediment
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.