The microecosystems in the leaves of the pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, were studied over a thirty day period. These plants were kept out of doors. One of these plants was later brought into the laboratory and four leaves were studied concurrently with four tubes. These studies were intended to show differences, if any, between leaves studied in the field and those in the laboratory, and between the leaves and an artificial environment. Organisms in all of these vessels were counted and their total biomass and oxygen consumption graphed. Three of the larger organisms found were typical of this species of pitcher plant, one through its entire life cycle and the other two for their larval stages. An interesting finding was that the alga, Microthamnion, seems to inhibit the growth of Tetrahymena, probably due to some extrametabolite. Paramecium was apparently excluded from all leaves in the field. The leaves of the pitcher plant were found to be ideal for the field and laboratory investigation of ecological forces due to their natural occurrance, small size, and rapid turnover of organisms. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

1. Exyra ridingsii is a host specific moth that spends its entire immature life cycle in the fire dependent Sarracenia flava pitcher plant. Sarracenia flava requires acidic, moist soil that undergoes frequent burns. 2. Habitat selection and the effects of fire as well as other habitat characteristics were examined for E. ridingsii during this study. 3. For this study, five sites in the Croatan National Forest were surveyed four times each year for two years. Only one site had no disturbances since 2009; the remaining four sites were evenly split with two having had burns occur in them and two having burns occur nearby in 2012. At each site seven to twenty quadrats were selected randomly for sampling. 4. In each quadrat, trumpets were counted and measured for height. Also recorded was whether the trumpets were healthy or affected by herbivory, and the fraction affected was calculated (herbivory per clump). 5. Highest median herbivory per clump values were found at the burned sites. Millis 2 had 100% herbivory for the late summer 2013 sampling date, and Millis 1 had a herbivory per clump value of 0.86; 86% of clumps at this site exhibited herbivory. All other values were above 50% with the exception of Catfish Lake Road which was 0.32. Herbivory per clump was not found to be statistically correlated to site and therefore burn status. 6. Burn status, soil saturation, and woody understory growth all seem to play a role in the habitat selection of E. ridingsii but there is much research still to be done.

The major objective of this thesis are carnivorous plants of the genus Nepenthes and their pedagogical and educational usage addressing students of elementary and grammar schools. The first part provides a general description of the Nepenthes plants, often called tropical pitcher plants due to their pitcher-shaped leaves that function as a passive pitfall trap. Moreover, the field research on the Nepenthes digestive fluid acidity was undertaken at Borneo. Plant's acidity was measured by the pH meter with glass electrode. The results obtained prove pH level differences for various Nepenthes species. In addition, pH level differences in between the fluid from freshly opened pitcher and an older fluid were observed. All results are cross-validated with the values reported in literature. On the basis of the results of the field research, didactic part is assembled. The didactic part consists of the Nepenthes general description and proposal of educational activities aiming at the botany popularization in elementary and grammar schools. Subsequently, the method proposed is tested in biology classes of the second grade of elementary school. The results reveal a positive influence of the method on student's interest in botany.

Plants and insects are some of the most biodiverse groups in the world and are constantly interacting. One unique interaction that has been observed occurs between carnivorous plants and insects; some plant species are capable of capturing and digesting insects for nutrients. Despite preying on these insects, there are cases where such interactions can been viewed as mutualistic. For instance, a nectar reward is produced by the plant to attract insects, and during visitation insects may fall prey to these plants. Additionally, carnivorous myrmecophytic plants may receive an added indirect benefit in the form of reduced herbivory, since ants have the ability to indirectly protect and drive off herbivores from the plant. However, this type of indirect defensive benefit has been rarely observed in carnivorous plants. To determine the nature of the relationship between carnivorous plants and ants, a predator-exclusion experiment was performed in situ using a natural population of the hooded pitcher plant, Sarracenia minor. The presence of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, was manipulated in the pitcher plant population to determine if the presence of this non-native ant affects the survival and growth of this carnivorous pitcher plant. From June-November 2014 mean pitcher height and width, number of pitchers, and proportion of pitchers with herbivory present was recorded monthly. Results indicated that pitcher width (p = .042) and the number of pitchers (p = .038) was significantly lower when the presence of S. invicta was reduced. Specifically, the limited presence of S. invicta led to a 21% reduction in mean number of pitchers and a 2.2% reduction in mean pitcher width. This indicated that this non-native ant does provide a direct nutritional benefit for the plant. However, the presence of the ant had no effect on pitcher height and the proportion of pitchers with herbivory present. But, when the proportion of pitchers with herbivory present was compared to a previous native ant study, herbivory proportions where similar or lower when taking the number of ants present into account. This suggests that this non-native ant and native ants equally provide defensive benefits for this native threatened species. Overall, this studied illustrated that carnivorous plants may exhibit similar multiple benefits from a single interaction with a non-native insect that is both prey and provides defense against herbivores.