The carnivorous plant Nepenthes bicalcarata ('fanged pitcher plant') has a unique relationship with a species of ant—Camponotus schmitzi ('diving ant'). The diving ants are not digested by the pitcher plants, but instead live on the plants and consume nectar. Diving ants also dive into the digestive juices in the pitcher, swim to the bottom, and capture and consume trapped insects, leaving uneaten body parts and ant feces behind. What nutritional impact do the ants have on fanged pitcher plants? Do the pitcher plants derive any nutritional benefit from this relationship? Explain why carnivorous and parasitic plants are most common in nutrient-poor habitats.

Video transcript

Welcome back. Let's look at our next question. It says in a nitrogen poor environment. Where do plants such as pitcher plant get the nitrogen they need. Well of course the usual route of nitrogen for plants is obtaining it through absorption through their roots from the soil and the water within the soil. So in a low nitrogen environment um that soil that water is low in nitrogen and the plants don't have their usual route. So in the absence of nitrogen in the soil or in poor levels of nitrogen plants have to obtain their nitrogen from other living organisms, often through forming symbiotic relationships. And we see when we look at our answer choices that choice a does say from other living organisms. So we can select that there um In the case of the pitcher plant, pitcher plants live in swampy areas and swamps are very low in nitrogen in their soil and they trap insects in the liquid in their picture shaped leaves. Um That liquid has digestive juices that can digest the insects leaving that nitrogen available to absorb. They also have a symbiotic relationship with a species called the diving ant. Um insects do get trapped in the liquid but they might escape before the plant could digest the nitrogen. The diving aunt lives on the picture plant it, as its name suggests, can dive into the liquid and consume the insects that are trapped and he remains that leaves behind and the feces that it leaves in that liquid um contain nitrogen and that nitrogen isn't going anywhere, it's not going to escape and the pitcher plant thus has the time to absorb the nitrogen. The mutual relationship that benefits both diving ant gets the insects trapped by the picture plant. The pitcher plant has the nitrogen trapped in place not able to escape. So again, let's look at our other answer choices just to see why they're not correct choice B. Says from soil, this would be a normal route of obtaining nitrogen. But again, we're in a nitrogen poor environment. So that means the soil content is too low, nitrogen content in the soil is too low for the plant to thrive. Choice C. Says from air. Um Plants are unable to absorb nitrogen from the air not able to access atmospheric nitrogen. So that's not our answer choice D says from water again, water in the soil. Rainwater was a usual source of nitrogen in the form of nitrate ions for plants but weren't a nitrogen poor environment. So there's not enough nitrogen content there uh for the plants. So that is not our answer. So again, in the nitrogen poor environment, where do plants such as pitcher plants, get the nitrogen? They need choice a from other living organisms. We'll see you in the next video