New Harvard Forest Publication: Nutrient Limitation and Stoichiometry In Carnivorous Plants

Harvard Forest Senior Ecologist Aaron Ellison, along with University of Vermont Professor Nick Gotelli and his graduate students Amy Wakefield and Sarah Wittman examined nutrient stoichiometry of northern pitcher plants fed supplemental prey. Their results suggest that under current conditions of high nitrogen deposition in the northeast that pitcher plants are phosphorus limited, and that phosphorus is preferentially absorbed from prey. These results highlight the importance of considering multiple nutrient limitation in wetland ecosystems, and how nutrient limitation can be affected by human alterations of the regional and global nitrogen cycle.