Effects of arthropod inquilines on growth and reproductive effort among metacommunities of the purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea var. montana)

PLoS One. 2020 May 8;15(5):e0232835. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232835. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Many plant species harbor communities of symbionts that release nutrients used by their host plants. However, the importance of these nutrients to plant growth and reproductive effort is not well understood. Here, we evaluate the relationship between the communities that colonize pitcher plant phytotelmata and the pitcher plants' vegetative growth and flower production to better understand the symbiotic role played by phytotelma communities. We focus on the mountain variety purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea var. montana), which occurs in small and isolated populations in Western North Carolina. We found that greater symbiont community diversity is associated with higher flower production the following season. We then examined geographic variation in communities and found that smaller plant populations supported less diverse symbiont communities. We relate our observations to patterns of community diversity predicted by community ecology theory.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Arthropods / physiology*
  • Biodiversity
  • Biota / physiology*
  • Chironomidae / growth & development
  • Chironomidae / metabolism
  • Copepoda / metabolism
  • Culicidae / metabolism
  • Flowers / growth & development
  • Larva
  • Mites / metabolism
  • Nitrogen Cycle
  • Plant Dispersal
  • Plant Leaves / growth & development
  • Reproduction
  • Sarraceniaceae / growth & development*
  • Sarraceniaceae / metabolism
  • Symbiosis / physiology*

Grants and funding

This project was funded by grants from the UNC Asheville Undergraduate Research Program to E. Powell and L. Beikmohamadi, a grant from the University of North Carolina Asheville University Research Council to R. Hale, J. Rhode Ward, and Caroline Kennedy, and a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services Asheville Field Office to R. Hale, J. Rhode Ward, and C. Kennedy.