Abstract

Sarracenia purpurea var. montana, the mountain variety purple pitcher plant, inhabits rare mountain bogs and readily hybridizes with the endangered mountain sweet pitcher plant, Sarracenia jonesii. As carnivorous plants, these two species rely on trapped prey for nutrients, but do so in very different ways, and hybrids are assumed to be less effective at capturing prey. As a result, hybridization between these two species is thought to be detrimental to offspring. This study examined hybridization effects specifically in the phytotelma communities on two levels, the mirco and macro invertebrate communities. Fluid samples containing invertebrates and micro communities were collected from randomly selected plants from a study site in Transylvania county, North Carolina. The micro community was quantified by first counting one 50 μl drop, if any organisms were seen then we would count six more 50 μl drops. The macro community was quantified by directly counting mosquito larvae, midge larvae and mites. In addition to looking individually at the communities, patterns in micro communities were compared with those from macrocommunities. It was shown that there was no relationship between fluid volume and species richness. It was also shown that there was a successional relationship between macro communities and micro communities being present. There was a significant effect of pitcher age on species richness in the micro-invertebrate community. The successional relationship in the macro and micro communities can be explained by differences in colonization. Individual organism differences can be due a multitude of factors such as pitcher age and morphology.

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