Abstract
Palaeotropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes) are a fascinating evolutionary case but their nutrient relationships are poorly known. To determine nutrient and metal concentrations in Nepenthes macfarlanei from Peninsular Malaysia, and contribute to our understanding of nutrient relationships in this genus, plants were sampled from the Genting Highlands – a disturbed montane forest location. Whilst many foliar nutrients showed typical concentrations, the foliar N concentration was, surprisingly, greater than most lowland species although the N:P ratio (c. 24) indicated nitrogen limitation in line with other studies on Nepenthes. Of particular note was the variable but high (< 240 µg g-1) lead concentrations that have not been reported in carnivorous plants before. This data adds to our understanding of the nutrient relationships of carnivorous plants and shows that they may accumulate high concentrations of certain metals.
Highlights
The montane forests of Peninsular Malaysia are a rich source of plant diversity (Saw, 2010)
There is little data on metal concentrations in Nepenthes species and the current development in this area may lead us to use this genus for biomonitoring of pollution in the future
The other macronutrients fell within the range for other Nepenthes species from Borneo (Osunkoya et al, 2007; Brearley and Mansur, 2012; van der Ent et al, 2015; Mansur et al, in revision)
Summary
The montane forests of Peninsular Malaysia are a rich source of plant diversity (Saw, 2010). (along with natural hybrids between them) are found here (Shivas, 1983; Chua and Saw, 2001; Bourke, 2003). These pitcher plants present a fascinating case of plant evolution whereby they have developed a container (‘pitcher’) at the end of their leaf blades to catch insects and other nutritious materials to supplement their soil-derived nutrients (Thorogood et al, 2018). There is little data on metal concentrations in Nepenthes species (but see van der Ent et al, 2015) and the current development in this area may lead us to use this genus for biomonitoring of pollution in the future.
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