Different pitcher shapes and trapping syndromes explain resource partitioning in Nepenthes species.

ABSTRACT: Nepenthes pitcher plants display interspecific diversity in pitcher form and diets. This species-rich genus might be a conspicuous candidate for an adaptive radiation. However, the pitcher traits of different species have never been quantified in a comparative study, nor have their possible adaptations to the resources they exploit been tested. In this study, we compare the pitcher features and prey composition of the seven Nepenthes taxa that grow in the heath forest of Brunei (Borneo) and investigate whether these species display different trapping syndromes that target different prey. The Nepenthes species are shown to display species-specific combinations of pitcher shapes, volumes, rewards, attraction and capture traits, and different degrees of ontogenetic pitcher dimorphism. The pre

SUBMITTER: Gaume L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4739188 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature