{"id":20937,"date":"2019-10-14T20:20:21","date_gmt":"2019-10-14T20:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.algonquinwrs.ca\/?p=20937"},"modified":"2019-10-15T03:57:31","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T03:57:31","slug":"plants-that-feed-on-salamanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.algonquinwrs.ca\/index.php\/2019\/10\/14\/plants-that-feed-on-salamanders\/","title":{"rendered":"The plants that feed on salamanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are carnivorous plants in Algonquin Provincial Park. Well, not just any carnivorous plants: these beauties are regularly making meals of salamanders. Preposterous? No, really!<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Botanical carnivory is an evolutionary marvel of the plant kingdom that has long fascinated general onlookers and naturalists alike. Carnivorous plants grow under nutrient-poor conditions and in-part circumvent nutrient limitations by drawing\u00a0nutrients from captured prey.\u00a0The Northern Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea purpurea<\/em>) is found across eastern North America and has been subject to a wealth of observational and experimental studies.\u00a0The documented prey of these plants\u00a0<\/em>is diverse and comprised almost exclusively of invertebrates. A recent observational study based at the AWRS, lead by researchers Patrick Moldowan<\/a> and Alex Smith<\/a>, documented that vertebrate prey can occur with a striking frequency in the Northern Pitcher Plant.\u00a0Visual surveys of plants were conducted during the metamorphic Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum<\/em>) dispersal period in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. In 2018, metamorphic Spotted Salamanders were captured in nearly 20% (1 in 5) of surveyed plants and it was estimated that plants are responsible for 4-5% of salamander early life stage mortality in our study area!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n