PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

An inside look at carnivorous plants

Harvard Forest researchers track the importance of microscopic inhabitants

2013-04-03
(Press-News.org) When we imagine drama playing out between predators and prey, most of us picture stealthy lions and restless gazelle, or a sharp-taloned hawk latched on to an unlucky squirrel. But Ben Baiser, a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard Forest and lead author of a new study in Oikos, thinks on a more local scale. His inter-species drama plays out in the humble bogs and fens of eastern North America, home to the carnivorous pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea. "It's shocking, the complex world you can find inside one little pitcher plant," says Baiser.

A pitcher plant's work seems simple: their tube-shaped leaves catch and hold rainwater, which drowns the ants, beetles, and flies that stumble in.

But the rainwater inside a pitcher plant is not just a malevolent dunking pool. It also hosts a complex system of aquatic life, including wriggling mosquito, flesh fly, and midge larvae; mites; rotifers; copepods; nematodes; and multicellular algae. These tiny organisms are crucial to the pitcher plant's ability to process food. They create what scientists call a 'processing chain': when a bug drowns in the pitcher's rainwater, midge larvae swim up and shred it to smaller pieces, bacteria eat the shredded pieces, rotifers eat the bacteria, and the pitcher plant absorbs the rotifers' waste.

But that's not the whole story. Fly larvae are also eating the rotifers, midge larvae, and each other, and everybody eats bacteria. It's a complex food web that shifts on the order of seconds.

Aaron Ellison, a co-author on the new study and senior ecologist at the Harvard Forest, says the pitcher plant food web is an ideal model for understanding larger food webs—with top predators like wolves—that change over a longer period of time. He points out, "With pitcher plants, you can hold the whole food web in your hand. The vast number of pitcher plants in one bog provide endless opportunities for detailed experiments on how food webs work, not only in pitcher plants, but also in bigger ecosystems that are harder to manipulate, like ponds, lakes, or oceans."

With funding from the National Science Foundation, the research team traveled to bogs in British Columbia, Quebec City, and Georgia—the full extent of the plant's range—to analyze the aquatic food webs from 60 pitcher plants. They found 35 different types of organisms inside, with a large contingent of bacteria counting as just one type. Then, says Baiser, "We wanted to know: how did we get different food webs in individual pitchers from the same species pool? What caused these food webs to form the way they did?"

A few well-established scientific models predict how food webs form based on a ranked system of ecosystem factors. For the Oikos study, Baiser and his team checked their real-world observations against those models. He explains: "Say you've got a bunch of lakes. And you've got a big bucket holding all the species that can live in those lakes. When you dump out the bucket, which creatures end up in which lake? What matters more: the size of the lake, or the fact that predator species X is there, too? Or is it random? Those models help us tease those factors apart."

According to the Oikos study, the way pitcher plant food webs assemble is not random. In fact, it seems the predator-prey interactions are of key importance. "You take out one species, and that affects everything else," says Baiser.

### The Harvard Forest, founded in 1907 and located in Petersham, Mass., is Harvard University's outdoor laboratory and classroom for ecology and conservation, and a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site funded by the National Science Foundation. Its 3,500 acre property is one of the oldest and most intensively studied research forests in the U.S. Open to the public year-round, the site includes educational and research facilities, a museum, and recreational trails.

More information can be found at: http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/. The full Oikos paper, "Predicting food-web structure with metacommunity models" (April 2013) and photos available at: http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/press-resources-inside-look-pitcher-plants-4113.

For an interview with Baiser or Ellison, contact: Clarisse Hart
Harvard Forest Outreach Manager END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Rising temperature difference between hemispheres could dramatically shift tropical rain patterns

2013-04-03
One often ignored consequence of global climate change is that the Northern Hemisphere is becoming warmer than the Southern Hemisphere, which could significantly alter tropical precipitation patterns, according to a new study by climatologists from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Washington, Seattle. Such a shift could increase or decrease seasonal rainfall in areas such as the Amazon, sub-Saharan Africa or East Asia, leaving some areas wetter and some drier than today. "A key finding is a tendency to shift tropical rainfall northward, ...

Daily stress takes a toll on long-term mental health, UCI-led study finds

2013-04-03
Irvine, Calif., April 2, 2013 – Our emotional responses to the stresses of daily life may predict our long-term mental health, according to a new study led by a UC Irvine psychologist. The research, which appears online in the journal Psychological Science, suggests that maintaining emotional balance is crucial to avoiding severe mental health problems down the road. Susan Charles, UC Irvine professor of psychology & social behavior, and her colleagues conducted the study in order to answer a long-standing question: Do everyday irritations add up to make the straw that ...

UC San Diego team achieves petaflop-level earthquake simulations on GPU-powered supercomputers

2013-04-03
A team of researchers at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, has developed a highly scalable computer code that promises to dramatically cut both research times and energy costs in simulating seismic hazards throughout California and elsewhere. The team, led by Yifeng Cui, a computational scientist at SDSC, developed the scalable GPU (graphical processing units) accelerated code for use in earthquake engineering and disaster management through regional earthquake ...

NRC panel advises US DOD on green buildings

2013-04-03
AMHERST, Mass. – New recommendations by a National Research Council (NRC) expert panel on green and sustainable building performance could lead to a revolution in building science by creating the first large building performance database, says panel member Paul Fisette, a nationally recognized sustainable building expert at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Fisette and six other NRC panel members were asked to consider whether nearly 500,000 structures owned by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) worldwide are being operated as sustainably and as efficiently ...

Pedestrians at serious risk when drivers are 'permitted' to turn left

2013-04-03
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A study to examine driver behavior in permitted left turns has identified what researchers call an "alarming" level of risk to pedestrians crossing the street – about 4-9 percent of the time, drivers don't even bother to look and see if there are people in the way. As opposed to a "protected" left turn, in which a solid green arrow gives a driver the complete right of way in a left-turn lane, a "permitted" left turn is often allowed by a confusing hodgepodge of signals, and drivers may have to pick their way through narrow windows of oncoming traffic. This ...

Targeting cholesterol buildup in eye may slow age-related vision loss

2013-04-03
Targeting cholesterol metabolism in the eye might help prevent a severe form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the most common causes of blindness in older Americans, according to indications in a study in mice, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health. Cholesterol build-up in arteries and veins, or atherosclerosis, occurs as a natural consequence of aging. Likewise, in AMD, cholesterol is known to accumulate in the eye, within deposits called drusen. The study, published in Cell Metabolism, shows that large cells called macrophages ...

Telerobotic system designed to treat bladder cancer better

2013-04-03
Although bladder cancer is the sixth most common form of cancer in the U.S. and the most expensive to treat, the basic method that doctors use to treat it hasn't changed much in more than 70 years. An interdisciplinary collaboration of engineers and doctors at Vanderbilt and Columbia Universities intends to change that situation dramatically. Headed by Nabil Simaan, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt, the team has developed a prototype telerobotic platform designed to be inserted through natural orifices – in this case the urethra – that can provide ...

Cisplatin-resistant cancer cells sensitive to experimental anticancer drugs, PARP inhibitors

2013-04-03
PHILADELPHIA — Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors may be a novel treatment strategy for patients with cancer that has become resistant to the commonly used chemotherapy drug cisplatin, according to data from a preclinical study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Cisplatin is one of the most widely used conventional, anticancer chemotherapy drugs," said Guido Kroemer, M.D., Ph.D., professor at University Paris Descartes in Paris, France. "Unfortunately, most patients respond only transiently to cisplatin therapy ...

Distracted driving is a primary offense in Pennsylvania

2013-04-03
Distracted driving is a primary offense in Pennsylvania Article provided by Aaroe Law Offices Visit us at http://www.settledontsue.com Being distracted from the task of driving is extremely dangerous for motorists and their passengers. Despite reported accidents that result from this practice, many drivers continue to take substantial risks. These careless, inattentive motorists are not only teens, but also skilled adult drivers. Because motorists of all ages continue to multitask behind the wheel, lawmakers have no choice but to implement laws. In modern times, ...

Study further explains dangers of drinking and driving

2013-04-03
Study further explains dangers of drinking and driving Article provided by Harting Simkins & Ryan LLP Visit us at http://www.hsrlegal.com A recent study has revealed just how dangerous it is to get behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol. The study, which was published in the journal Alcohol, revealed the affect of alcohol on connections in the brain that control muscle and visual movements. The researchers conducted tests on 14 individuals, measuring their visual and muscle control when sober and when under the influence of alcohol. Each participant ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] An inside look at carnivorous plants
Harvard Forest researchers track the importance of microscopic inhabitants