PERENNIALWAR
Clash of the Kingdoms
Closely related species often compete aggressively for resources. But researchers have now found a remarkable exception: a plant competing for food with an animal. The species in question are sundews and insect-eating wolf spiders. Sundews (Drosera capillaris) cover their leaves in a sticky mucous to trap insects and consume them with digestive enzymes, whereas the spiders (Sosippus floridanus) weave dense webs. Both species live close to the ground in the damp bogs of southern Florida, and both prey on a variety of bugs, including flies, ants, crickets, and springtails. This overlap led ecologist Jason Rohr of the University of South Florida in Tampa to wonder if the two species competed for resources. Rohr and his colleagues surveyed field sites in Florida, counting the placement and number of sundews and spiders. They also trapped insects in the area in order to estimate the resources available to both. The team observed that the spiders built larger webs when sundews were around than when they were absent, ostensibly to catch more insects. Source: Science Now
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