Succession and Stratification of Aquatic Insects Inhabiting the Leaves of the Insectivorous Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia purpurea

Fish, Durland; Hall, Donald W.

doi:10.2307/2424941

Cited by 107 publications

(89 citation statements)

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“…Each plant forms a rosette of leaves, each with an inquiline aquatic community. Leaf production begins at the beginning of the season and continues until the onset of fall and winter (Fish and Hall 1978). Since the plant does not receive an adequate amount of essential nutrients (primarily nitrogen) from the soil, it has evolved pitcher-shaped leaves that fill with rainwater and attract and passively drown insects.…”

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Succession in the aquatic Sarracenia purpurea community: deterministic or driven by contingency?

Gray

2012

Aquat Ecol

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The development of a community through time, or succession, is generally described as the orderly replacement of species until a deterministic, stable endpoint is reached. However, stochastic factors, coupled with intrinsic biotic factors, such as herbivory or predation, can cause communities within the same habitat to become highly dissimilar in composition. Much research on the succession of terrestrial systems has been conducted, but factors influencing the succession of a terrestrial system may not apply to aquatic systems. To determine whether succession in an aquatic system is deterministic or dominated by contingency of stochastic factors, and the role that higher trophic level interactions and resources have in shaping successional patterns, I followed community development and dynamics of the intermediate and bottom trophic level (protozoans and bacteria) in the model Sarracenia purpurea pitcher plant system throughout an entire growing season. By comparing these dynamics across pitcher plant leaves within the same bog, I was able to determine whether there is a predictable pattern for community assembly in this aquatic community. The results from this study suggest that rather than a sequential replacement of early colonizers with more competitive species through time, competitively superior species establish in newly formed communities simultaneously with less competitive species, which coexist throughout the growing season. Community assembly in this system can also be altered by stochastic events. Resources and predators had a variable effect on the patterns of community change observed during succession. Patterns of community assembly were also dependent on the trophic level examined but, for the bottom trophic level, not on the sampling method used.

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Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Succession in the aquatic Sarracenia purpurea community: deterministic or driven by contingency?

Gray

2012

Aquat Ecol

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“…The carnivorous pitcher plant genus Sarracenia is an obvious system to address basic questions in plant-microbe interaction because each pitcher (a modified leaf) of the plant contains a microcosm composed of larval insects, fungi, algae, rotifers, nematodes, and bacteria that, together, ultimately break down nutrients from insect prey for the plant (1,10,20,28,37). Each pitcher represents a naturally defined and discrete community with a finite volume and a discrete life span (each leaf lasts only one season).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the mechanisms of digestion are also probably dependent on the pH of the fluid and age of the plant (35). The addition of bacteria changes the pH of pitcher fluid and initiates ecological succession (28,60). The bacterial assemblage represents the resource base of a complex food web that is ultimately under the control of a keystone predator (the pitcher plant mosquito, Wyeomyia smithii [Culicidae]) (20,59).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, little is known about how this community changes through time. Rates of prey capture and the abundance of bacteria are correlated (44,55,56); thus, community succes-sional age likely affects community structure (28). In this study, we explore the identity, diversity, and temporal patterns of bacteria associated with pitcher plants in Louisiana and specifically aim to (i) characterize the microbial community in Sarracenia alata using three culture-independent methods, (ii) explore how this community changes over the complete growing season and the digestive progression of the plants, and (iii) examine whether or not pitcher plant bacterial communities are different from those found in surrounding soil.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Carnivorous Pale Pitcher Plant Harbors Diverse, Distinct, and Time-Dependent Bacterial Communities

Koopman

Fuselier

Hird

et al. 2010

Appl Environ Microbiol

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The ability of American carnivorous pitcher plants (Sarracenia) to digest insect prey is facilitated by microbial associations. Knowledge of the details surrounding this interaction has been limited by our capability to characterize bacterial diversity in this system. To describe microbial diversity within and between pitchers of one species, Sarracenia alata, and to explore how these communities change over time as pitchers accumulate and digest insect prey, we collected and analyzed environmental sequence tag (454 pyrosequencing) and genomic fingerprint (automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism) data. Microbial richness associated with pitcher plant fluid is high; more than 1,000 unique phylogroups were identified across at least seven phyla and 50 families. We documented an increase in bacterial diversity and abundance with time and observed repeated changes in bacterial community composition. Pitchers from different plants harbored significantly more similar bacterial communities at a given time point than communities coming from the same genetic host over time. The microbial communities in pitcher plant fluid also differ significantly from those present in the surrounding soil. These findings indicate that the bacteria associated with pitcher plant leaves are far from random assemblages and represent an important step toward understanding this unique plant-microbe interaction.

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“…This developmental stage is followed by the production of large, fully developed traps with attenuated phyllodia as the plant becomes competent for carnivory. Even though a trap can live in excess of 1 year, the bulk of the prey is caught within the first 50 d after a trap opens (Fish and Hall, 1978;Cresswell, 1991). Although the presence of open traps containing digestive fluid should have facilitated the biochemical characterization of the secreted hydrolases and the plant's ability to respond to nutrient stimulus, little is known about hydrolase expression and its regulation in S. purpurea, either developmentally or in response to nutrients in the trap.…”

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confidence: 99%

Signal Transduction in the Carnivorous Plant Sarracenia purpurea (Regulation of Secretory Hydrolase Expression during Development and in Response to Resources)

Gallie

Chang

1997

Plant Physiology

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~~ -~Carnivory in plants has developed as an evolutionary adaptation to nutrient-poor environments. A significant investment of the resources of a carnivorous plant is committed to producing the traps, attractants, and digestive enzymes needed for the carnivory. The coskbenefit ratio of carnivory can be improved by either maximizing the prey capture rate or by reducing the metabolic commitment toward carnivory. Using the pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea, we have investigated whether the expression of the hydrolytic enzymes needed for digestion is regulated in response to the presence of prey. Expression of protease, RNase, nuclease, and phosphatase activities could be induced in the fluid of nonactive traps by the addition of nucleic acids, protein, or reduced nitrogen, suggesting that hydrolase expression i s induced upon perception of the appropriate chemical signal. Hydrolase expression was also developmentally controlled since expression commenced upon opening of a trap, increased for severa1 days, and i n the absence of prey largely ceased within 2 weeks. Nevertheless, the traps remained competent to induce expression i n response to the appropriate signals. These data suggest that in young traps hydrolase expression is developmentally regulated, which is later replaced by a signal transduction mechanism, and they demonstrate the ability of a carnivorous species to respond to the availability of resources.

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Succession and Stratification of Aquatic Insects Inhabiting the Leaves of the Insectivorous Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia purpurea

Cited by 107 publications

References 0 publications

Succession in the aquatic Sarracenia purpurea community: deterministic or driven by contingency?

Succession in the aquatic Sarracenia purpurea community: deterministic or driven by contingency?

The Carnivorous Pale Pitcher Plant Harbors Diverse, Distinct, and Time-Dependent Bacterial Communities

Signal Transduction in the Carnivorous Plant Sarracenia purpurea (Regulation of Secretory Hydrolase Expression during Development and in Response to Resources)

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