Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Environment → Pollution

Carnivorous plants turn to veggie diet due to pollution

Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu
June 20, 2012
in Environment, Pollution, Research, World Problems

Carnivorous plants may soon have to give up their meaty habits and turn veggie, as a recent study found that carnivours plants in Swedish bogs have significantly reduced their preying behavior, due to nitrogen pollution.

drosera carnivorous plant The  sundew drosera rotundifolia is one of the most common carnivours plant species, growing across much of Northern Europe in rain-fed bogs. Typically, their habitat has low-nitrogen intake which forces them to seek such nutrients elsewhere; evolution, thus, took them on a path where they developed the necessary means and measures to trap and devour insects.

Human induced nitrogen pollution, however, due to fossil fuel burning from plants and vehicles have caused  increased levels of nitrogen deposited by rainfall over these bogs. The carnivorous plants now have access to a lot more nitrogen than they used to need to survive, dwindling their appetite, but at the same time destabilizing the local ecosystem.

“If there’s plenty of nitrogen available to their roots, they don’t need to eat as much,” explains Dr. Jonathan Millett from Loughborough University, the report’s lead author.

Now, these plants absorb more nitrogen through their roots.  Plants in lightly-polluted areas got 57 per cent of their nitrogen from insects; in areas that receive more nitrogen deposition, that figure fell as low as 22 per cent. These figures were reached after scientists analyzed the nitrogen isotope composition in plants; different forms of nitrogen differing by atomic mass. Nitrogen isotopes come in a different mix whether of biological origin, say insects, or from rain deposits.

It’s been found that the carnivorous plants’ leaves are now less sticky, their main weapon for trapping insects, and have also suffered a transformation in colouring, from a red tint, which attracted bugs, to a more greenish hue.

That might no seem like much, but one needs to consider that in an ecosystem, everything is about niches. Each species takes up a free niche, and evolves in that particular direction. Carnivorous plants sped a high amount of energy an specialized elements, and  once a species has gone down this path, it finds it hard to compete with non-carnivorous rivals outside its favoured nitrogen-poor setting.

“In the sites with more nitrogen deposition, these plants now get much more of their nitrogen from their roots, but they still have to bear the residual costs of being carnivorous, and other plants without these will be better able to survive,” Millett comments. “So it’s quite likely we’ll see less abundance and perhaps local extinctions from carnivorous species. The individual plants get bigger and fitter, but the species as a whole is less well adapted to high-nitrogen environments and will lose out over time.”

A similar study is planed for hobs in the UK, where scientists expect to find more startling ratios, because of the more extensive fossil fuel ussage. Low-pollution Swedish bogs showed deposition rates of around 1.8kg of nitrogen per hectare per year; many UK sites are closer to 30kg.

The study was published in the journal New Phytologist.

image credit

Was this helpful?


Thanks for your feedback!

Related posts:
  1. Carnivorous plants all over the world used convergent evolution to start eating flesh
  2. China’s changing diet is increasing air pollution – and leading to more premature deaths
  3. Newly discovered carnivorous plant eats underground worms
  4. People eat 80% less meat when there are more veggie options on the menu
  5. It’s official: McDonald’s will release a veggie patty starting next year
Tags: carnivorous plantnitrogenplantspollution

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW