Carnivorous Plants Essay -- essays research papers

Carnivorous Plants     In a world where plants argon at the bottom of the food-chain, close toindividual plant species have evolved ways to reverse the order we expect tofind in nature. These insectivorous plants, as they are sometimes called, arethe predators , rather than the passive prey. Adaptions such as odiferous luresand trapping mechanisms have made it possible for these photosynthesizers tocapture, chemically break-down and digest insect prey (and in some cases evensmall animals.) There is no reason to fear them though. The majority areherbaceous perennials, usually only 4 to 6 inches high, and nothing standardized theplant in "Little Shop of Horrors".     Almost all carnivorous plants have a basically similar ecology andseveral different species are often found growing almost side by side. They aremost likely to be found in swamps, bogs, damp heaths and muddy or sandy shores.Drosophyllum lusitanicum from Portugal and Morocc o is the one exception, itgrows on dry gravelly hills. Like other green plants, carnivorous plantscontain the organic pigment chlorophyll. This pigment helps to liaise achemical process called photosynthesis. This converts light energy into thechemical bond energy of carbohydrate which is utilized as cellular energy, plantgrowth and development. Water, atomic number 6 dioxide, nutrients and minerals are alsoneeded for survival. In wetlands, where stagnate water contains acidiccompounds and chemicals from decaying organic matter many plants have adifficult time obtaining requirement nutrients. It is in these nutrient poorconditions that some plants evolved different ways of obtaining nutrients. Theability of carnivorous plants to digest nitrogen -rich animal protein enablesthese plants to survive in somewhat conflicting environments.     The evolution of carnivorous plants is speculative due to the paucity ofthe fossil record. It is believed that plant carnivo ry may have evolved millionsof years ago from plants whose leaves formed depressions that retained rainwater. low-down insects would sometimes fall into these water reservoirs and drown,eventually being decomposed by bacteria in the water. The nutrients from theinsects would be absorbed by the leaf. The deeper the leaf depression the moreinsects that could be drowned. This would have creat... ... as frogs and small rodents. Nepenthes are unique amongst carnivorousplants as the only dioecious genus, which means there are separate masculine andfemale plants. These plants are very endangered and several species or extinct.Some species of Nepenthes are sold for hundreds of dollars to collectors and areinvolved in illegal abroad trade.     The growing of carnivorous plants has become very popular in recentyears. Unfortunately the endangered status of many species does not stopcollectors from risking high fines and domain collecting them. This has hadseriously imp act on many species, but collectors are not the biggest problemfacing carnivorous plants. In the USA and other highly-developed countries wetlandsare considered useless and are being drained and developed on. At present it isestimated that only 3-5% of carnivorous plant habitat remain in the US. some otherproblem is that fires are put out before they spread even though many plants,such as the Venus fly trap, benefit from semestrial burns. Habitat destructionfrom slash and burn agriculture, however, does not benefit any of thecarnivorous plants and is also causing a great deal of the extinctions.