A Study Of Carnivorous Plants Essay Research

A Study Of Carnivorous Plants Essay, Research Paper

A Study of Carnivorous Plants

What exactly are carnivorous plants. They have made appearances in countless movies, books, and science fairs, but what defines a carnivorous plant is that an essential part of its diet is meat or insects. This includes venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula), Pitcher Plants (Sarrecenia, Nepenthes, and Darlingtonia), and Sundews (Drosera).

Why must these plants “eat” meat. As plants and animals evolve, they change to thrive in their environments more effectively. These plants evolved in areas with extremely poor, acidic soil. To make up for this lack of nutrients, these plants developed ways to trap insects which would provide the nutrients required (Meyers, Rice B.A., www.sarrecenia.com/faq.html, 1998, Carnivorous Plant FAQ v6.0, Oct. 19, 1998).

The best known of these plants is the Venus flytrap, which uses a rather gruesome method of ensnaring its food; it has small “mouths”, which are actually leaves adapted to function as traps, that close over the insect and then dissolve it over a period of a few days. This is particularly fascinating as one can actually see the mouths close over the insect. But how does the mouth close. Plants lack muscle; it must use a slightly more roundabout way of capturing its food. The Venus flytrap uses water movement to its advantage; when something springs the trap, hormones are quickly released by the sensor cells which cause water to move out of the joint; this makes the leaf collapse over the insect, trapping it for digestion (Meyers, Rice B.A., www.sarrecenia.com/faq.html, 1998, Carnivorous Plant FAQ v6.0, Oct. 19, 1998).

The Sundew also moves, although it uses a different technique; when an insect is captured, the hormones that are triggered slow the growth of cells on one side of the leaf, while speeding up the growth of those on the other. This causes the leaf to curl up around the insect. A Sundew traps the insects on sticky spines, so it can take its time in digestion(Meyers, Rice B.A., www.sarrecenia.com/faq.html, 1998, Carnivorous Plant FAQ v6.0, Oct. 19, 1998).

The pitcher plants use a tube-shaped stem filled with a weak digestive enzyme to capture its prey. When the insect falls into the “pitcher”, it becomes trapped in the enzyme and is digested. The pitcher plant also has a leaf that shields the enzyme from rain, which would dilute the solution. (FEIS Biological Archive, www.fs.fed.us/database/feis, Oct. 19, 1998)

So, what impact do these plants have on the human race. Well, aside from their economical value to nurseries and hobbyists, they are important indicator species. In a scientific journal by Mary-Jo Godt, she observed that in areas of Florida, endangered species of Sarrecenia were dying out due to over-development; these plants will show when we are pushing the limits on our ecological systems before we cause any serious, permanent damage. (Godt, Mary-Jo(1998). The American journal of Botany, Allozyme diversity in the endangered Pitcher Plant Sarracenia, New York: Hamwick)

Besides being indicator species, these plants also play an important role in many marsh ecosystems. Drosera are used for forage by moose in the Kenai peninsula, are important to the continued existence of the marshes in which migratory waterfowls, among other creatures, live and mate, form a primary habitat for an endangered species of rattlesnake in Massachusetts, the eastern massassauga rattler, and are important sources of food for ants, which will opportunistically feed on the insects trapped on its leaves (www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~trigg/, Oct. 19, 1998).

They can also be used to regenerate bogs, swamps, and wetlands that have been destroyed or damaged by industrial use or peat mining due to the fact that they are much more resilient than other carnivorous plants; one example of this is an Ontario bog that had been stripped two meters in peat mining. It is presumed that they help cycle nutrients back into the damaged, nutrient deficient soil by converting insects directly into useful substances. They can also be put to this use in areas damaged by burning or road construction. The leaves of Drosera can be used in the production of cheese as they have the natural ability to curdle milk; this technique is put to use in Sweden even today. The fresh leaves contain an antibiotic that has proven effective in the combat of several bacteria (i.e., Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Pneumococcus) and has been used to treat respiratory diseases and warts(FEIS Biological Archive, www.fs.fed.us/database/feis, Oct. 19, 1998).

Unfortunately, Drosera rotundifolia, the round-leafed Sundew (the most useful of the species) is endangered due to drainage, which destroys insects that it will prey upon while they are still in the larval stage. They are also threatened by fertilizers and herbicides, which stunt the plant’s growth, and by the destruction of wetlands to increase property values. However, this plant has proven quite resistant to heavy grazing. This plant is found all around the temperate regions of the earth, so total eradication is not an immediate threat if preservation efforts are taken. It is found in Wisconsin(FEIS Biological Archive, www.fs.fed.us/database/feis, Oct. 19, 1998).

The next plant that influences the world we live in is the Pitcher Plant, or any Sarrecenia, Nepenthes, or Darlingto