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| Google takes you to the location indicated above.... (3736 E New York Ave, DeLand, FL 32724) However my site is actually located to the east and a bit north of the rectangular county road 4118 label. (That is the road which leads to the Cabbage Patch) |
In particular I want to define proximity more specifically so I know how far away I should be taking the "no pitcher plant samples" and how close would be best to take the "pitcher plants present samples". I have not found any specific comments or studies concerning the root habits of these plants but Dr.Emmett had mentioned in our last meeting that their preferred habitat being wet would predispose them to compact root systems since they do not have to travel far in search of water and being carnivorous they would be supplementing the nutrient poor soil with their bug of choice rather than producing large root systems for finding nutrients.
Sarracenia minor is classified by both the Institute for Systematic Botany at the University of South Florida and the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Plant Database as a threatened plant species in Florida. S. minor (Sarracenia minor) is a flowering plant which produces fruits when these flowers are pollinated. The USDA also classifies these guys as an obligate wetland species meaning if they are found in an area then that area must be a wetland. Funny thing though: none of these profiles mention that the pitcher plant is carnivorous. Thus I giggled for several moments and wandered over to the Institute's virtual herbarium and all I could think about while browsing the S. minor specimens was the giant plant from the play Little Shop of Horrors saying "Feed me Seymour, FEED ME!" Then my awful brain conjured up images of giant bugs...
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| These are country singers... NOT pitcher plants... I promise Y'all. ;) |
Speaking of bugs I was very excited to find an article comparing the 'feeding habits' of S. minor in general with a particular subspecies called S. m. var. okefenokeensis (Sarracenia minor variety: okefenokeensis) found in the Okefenokee Swamp which straddles the Florida/Georgia line. (Show of hands how many of you paused and went: "Hold on, she isn't talking about the country singers, right? No? Ok then moving on...") These guys, the plants not the country singers, are generally taller and it turns out that they attract a wider variety of insects than most S. minor. Their prey also varied with the seasons and specific specimen location.(2) Sadly I had trouble finding pictures that I could verify weren't just stock photos of S. minor labeled as okefenokeensis.
The S. minor I will be studying are of the simple variety that most often lures in ants but I have put okefenokeensis on my "Must Visit List".
The other published research I found consisted mostly of studying critters, particularly microbes, moths and fire ants, that live inside and around the pitcher plants.
A master's thesis from the University of North Florida I found did look at how the flowering rate of the hooded pitcher plant was effected when introducing nitrogen to the soil but the student's sources of error set off some red flags that I may not want to use his information but to focus on not repeating his mistakes. These errors included a burn(I'm assuming a controlled burn meant to help promote the health of the wetland he was studying) prior to his study which would have put a lot of stress on the plants and the fact that S. minor does not use nitrogen immediately but instead stores it for new growth in the next growing season.(1)
Anyway I'm more curious about the conditions S. minor is already living in so that we can preserve what pitcher plant friendly wetlands we already have. Preservation is a whole lot easier than restoration. Luckily the state of Florida provides me a few tools to help me plan out my study without leaving my living room and jam-jams.
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| Remember when I mentioned I originally planned to be a graphic designer? This is a time when those skills come in handy. |
Awesome Tool #1: FLUX
Here in the sunshine state we have a state wide policy for classifying different kinds of land called the *Florida Land Use, Cover and Forms Classification System more easily recognized as FLUX. To the right I have cut out a portion of an online map featuring the locations of the pitcher plants found on the site I will be studying along with the 2004-2013 FLUX designations for that area represented by the colors tinting the aerial background. Sadly I could find nothing newer than 2013 from a reputable source. This one was created by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Awesome Tool #2: Maps
(Particularly soils)
The Florida Geographic Data Library has the FLUX overlays (in mapping overlays use color patches to tell the viewer something about a number of areas. Like the three FLUX areas in the map above these patches are often translucent and a key is used to determine what is represented by each color) which is great but they also have soil types that can be used similarly to see specifically what kind of soil can be found where. Knowing the soil types tells us what kind of nutrients and moisture conditions to expect.
The FLUX is better for a general idea of the area but for my purposes the soils map is very exciting. Now I just have to find the best one to use and get it put on the map...
Citations
(1) Lemons, J, "Nutrient Availability Affects Flower Rate but has Limited Influence on Morphology and the Hooded Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia minor." (2013). UNF Theses and Dissertations. Paper 475.
http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/475
(2)Stephens, J., Godwin, R., Folkerts, D. (2015, June) Distinction in Pitcher Morphology and Prey Capture of the Okefenokee Variety within Carnivorous Plant Species Sarracenia minor. Southeastern Naturalist, 14(2), 254-266. doi: 10.1656/058.014.0208
<<<Help!!! I can't get the citations to format correctly on the blog!!! :(((((
Q&A
Q:Deb n' Paul (Dr. Woodall)
Renee (with double Es)--your blog posts are wonderful. I'm also very excited to find out what you and Dr. Emmett discover. I"m sure your findings will be beneficial to others--please be prepared to create a poster and present at a professional conference--this IRP is obviously headed that way!
A: I am so glad you are enjoying my blogs!! I endeavor to be entertaining as well as informative. I will keep a future poster in the back of my noggin and I already made a priority 1 sticky note about it! I really hope that my findings will be helpful to conservation efforts for this plant. Particularly in helping to better understand why these pitcher plants often grow at fairly long distances from each other even though the general soil type is more or less the same.
PS. Someone remind me not to post anything after 9:30PM.... After rereading this following some sleep I apparently turn into a goober after 9:30PM. An informative goober but a goober nonetheless.
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