Predation by the tropical plant Utricularia foliosa |
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Authors: | LIZANDRO SANABRIA-ARANDA,ADRIANA GONZÁ LEZ-BERMÚ DEZ,NÉ STOR NED TORRES,CÁ STOR GUISANDE,ANA MANJARRÉ S-HERNÁ NDEZ,VANESSA VALOYES-VALOIS,JHON DÍ AZ-OLARTE,CAMILO ANDRADE-SOSSA, SANTIAGO R. DUQUE |
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Affiliation: | Facultad De Ciencias, Escuela De Biología, Universidad Industrial De Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia; Facultad De Ciencias Y Educación, Universidad Distrital Francisco JoséDe Caldas, Bogotá, Colombia; Instituto Amazónico De Investigaciones-Imani, Universidad Nacional De Colombia, Leticia, Colombia; Facultad De Ciencias, Universidad de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, Vigo, Spain; Grupo De Investigaciones En Cuencas Y Humedales Tropicales, Universidad Del Magdalena, Carrera, Santa Marta, Colombia; Facultad De Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Tecnológica Del ChocóDiego Luis Córdoba, Quibdo, Colombia; Grupo De Estudios En Recursos Hidrobiológicos Continentales, Museo De Historia Natural, Departamento De Biología, Universidad Del Cauca, Popayan, Colombia |
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Abstract: | 1. We examined the prey captured by individual plants of the tropical carnivorous plant Utricularia foliosa, located in different areas along a creek in the Colombian Amazon and the zooplankton and macroinvertebrate communities associated with the plants. The aims were: (i) to determine whether bladders of different sizes within each plant catch different numbers of prey or exploit different size ranges and types of prey, (ii) if the quantity and composition of prey captured varies temporally and/or spatially and (iii) if the plant has evolved effective mechanisms of attracting prey. 2. Utricularia foliosa captured the most abundant species of macroinvertebrates associated with the plant. Larger bladders captured more, larger and more diverse prey. However, benefits of the extra prey caught by large bladders were not offset by the greater cost of producing bladders larger than approximately 1650 μm. 3. The number of prey captured was higher in those plants with more carbohydrates per bladder and with a higher ratio of antenna size/bladder length. The antennae enhance capture success by offering the prey a favourable substratum that exploits their natural locomotor and feeding behaviour. However, although carbohydrates may lure prey, carbohydrate production was not a strategy of the plant to enhance the capture of prey, because the amount of carbohydrates in the bladder was related to the abundance of periphyton. |
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Keywords: | carnivorous plant macroinvertebrates nutrients predation zooplankton |
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