User:Pagliaccious/Sandbox/Future Research

Plant carnivory overview

A venus fly trap capturing different kinds of prey insects

Plants which grow in soils lacking vital nutrients can gain a competitive advantage by absorbing nutrients through captured prey. Plants which absorb nutrients from captured organisms are called carnivorous plants. They are different from animal carnivores in that plants do not gain energy from the captured prey, only nutrients. Carnivorous plants still use photosynthesis to produce energy. The opportunity for this advantage in nutrient-poor soils has led to which has resulted in plant carnivory evolving at least 12 separate times. For example, researchers recently discovered a previously unknown lineage of carnivorous plants, finding that Triantha occidentalis captures and digests insects with sticky hairs on its stems.

Future research

Triantha glutonisa growing in an acidic fen rich in calcium carbonate, or chalk

Triantha occidentalis is not the only candidate for plant carnivory among its genus. The closely related Triantha glutonisa also grows in nutrient-poor soils, and has been seen with insects trapped on its sticky stems, but it is still unknown whether T. glutonisa is truly a carnivore. Scientists could verify whether T. glutonisa is a plant carnivore with the same method that they verified that T. occidentalis is a plant carnivore: through Nitrogen-15 tracing. In this method, scientists "mark" flies with a special isotope of nitrogen, then put the fly and plant in contact and check whether this "marked" nitrogen is found in the plant. If it is, this likely means that the plant is absorbing nitrogen and other nutrients from flies, so it is indeed carnivorous.