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Why do carnivorous plants live in wet enviroments?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 12:43 am
by albertoburrito
I was wondering why all carnivorous plants I am aware of(flytraps, sarrs, cephalotus, drosera, pings, nepenthes, bladderworts, heliamphoria) all live in wet areas.

Re: Why do carnivorous plants live in wet enviroments?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 1:47 am
by Shadowtski
Not all CP live in wet areas. Drosophyllum comes to mind and a lot of Australian and South African, CP have a very dry season.
But areas with subterranean water flow, like bogs, have any nutrients leached out by the flowing water.
So any plants that can grab flying or crawling packages of protein will have an ecological advantage in such an environment.
This is just my 02ยข worth, a wild-a$$ guess.

Re: Why do carnivorous plants live in wet enviroments?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 1:41 pm
by sanguinearocks101
I have not done any research in this area but lots of the cps I can recall use a sweet smellling liquid to attract and digest insects. However, that could be a consequence of them living in an area with lots of water and using the water to their advantage, not the initial need for lots of water.

Re: Why do carnivorous plants live in wet enviroments?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 2:28 pm
by steve booth
They adapted to live in environments that many other plants could not survive in, i.e. very acidic, boggy, high sunlight, nutrient-deficient soils, to avoid competition from other plants. This is why they required the carnivorous adaptation to supplement the nutrient requirements.
Cheers
Steve