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(American Journal of Botany. 2003;90:1341-1348.)
© 2003 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Ecology

Patterns of prey capture and prey availability among populations of the carnivorous plant Pinguicula moranensis (Lentibulariaceae) along an environmental gradient1

Raúl E. Alcalá2 and César A. Domínguez2,3,4

2Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, A.P. 70-275, CP 04510, México, DF, Mexico; and 3Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-2525 USA

In this study we explored the effect of the physical environment and the availability of prey (biomass and taxonomic composition) on the patterns of prey capture and reproduction on five populations of Pinguicula moranensis (Lentibulariaceae) in areas ranging from pine–oak forests to desert scrublands. Environmental variation was summarized using principal factor analysis. Prey availability and prey capture increased toward the shadiest, most humid, and fertile population. The probability of reproduction and average bud production per population did not follow the same tendency because both fitness components peaked at the middle of the environmental gradient. These results suggest that the benefits derived from carnivory are maximized at sites fulfilling a trade-off between light, moisture, and prey availability. We also found that the taxonomic composition of both the available prey and that of the prey captured by plants varied among populations. The results also indicated that the prey captured by plants are not a random sample of prey available within populations. Overall, the results from this study revealed a marked amount of heterogeneity in the physical and biotic environment among the populations of P. moranensis, which has the potential to affect the outcome of the interaction between this carnivorous species and its prey.

Key Words: carnivorous habit • environmental heterogeneity • insectivorous plants • Lentibulariaceae • Pinguicula






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