Soil pH values at sites of terrestrial carnivorous plants in south-west Europe

Abstract

Although the majority of terrestrial carnivorous plants grow in acidic soils at a pH of 3.5-5.5, there are many dozens of carnivorous species, mostly mountainous or rocky Pinguicula species, which grow preferentially or strictly in neutral or slightly alkaline soils at pHs between 7-8. Knowledge of an optimum soil pH value and an amplitude of this factor may be important not only for understanding the ecology of various species and their conservation, but also for successfully growing them. I report soil pH values at microsites of 15 terrestrial carnivorous plant species or subspecies in SW Europe.