2003/07/01 by Jonathan A. Moran, Charles Clarke, B. J. Hawkins · 15 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant and Biological Electrophysiology Studies #Plant Diversity and Evolution #Plant and animal studies
paper · doi:10.1086/375422
openalex publication_date 2003/07/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Nepenthes pitcher plants trap prey in specialized leaves formed into pitchers. Most lowland species live in open, sunny habitats and capture prey to obtain nutrients, principally nitrogen (N). Nepenthes ampullaria is commonly found under closed canopy forest and possesses morphological traits that indicate adaptation to trap leaf litter as a nutrient source. We tested this hypothesis by comparing foliar stable N isotope abundance (δ15N) between plants growing under forest canopy at 20 sites (litterfall present) and those growing in 20 open areas (no litterfall) in Borneo. Foliar δ15N values were significantly lower and total N concentrations were higher for the plants with access to litterfall. Using a mixing model, we estimated that N. ampullaria plants growing under forest canopy derived 35.7% ± 0.1% of their foliar N from leaf litter inputs.