VENUS FLYTRAP
All about the Venus fly trap
What is a Venus flytrap?
The venus flytrap is a carnivorous plant that traps insects in its leaves and digests them. Though it eats insects that doesn’t mean that’s the way it gets it food it uses photosynthesis like all plants, to make its own food. In fact it only has a maximum of 12 traps it can close before it becomes unresponsive meaning that it mostly uses photosynthesis and the nutrients in the soil to grow. The life span of the venus flytrap has been estimated to be 20 years or more. It usually grows up to 30 cm for an average height. The trap is made of two hinged lobes at the end of each leaf. inside its mouth it has hair called trichomes, when the hair is touched the mouth closes shut. Though it doesn't close its mouth unless the hairs are touched multiple times. The venus flytrap live in the swamps of north and south carolina. Other animals that live in this ecosystem include, snakes, frogs, beetles, flies, dragonflies and a lot more.
Symbiotic Relations
The venus flytrap is a producer and consumer because it is a plant and make its own food. But it’s also a consumer because eats other animals. Its prey includes many of the insects that live in the same ecosystem which are grasshoppers, worms, wasps, beetles and more. The venus flytrap has a sweet smelling nectar that it use to lure in its prey in. It has a parasitism relation with wasp because it uses the nectar to lure them in and it eats them. This is a parasitism relation because the venus flytrap is helped, because it's getting the nutrients it needs while the wasp isn’t benefiting in any way. If an animal were to go extinct it wouldn’t affect the venus flytrap, because even if all organisms were to extinct in its ecosystem it could still use photosynthesis to get the energy it needs and using the soil get nutrients.
Human Impact
Humans are polluting the water which is affecting the Venus flytraps eating habit. Recent studies have been showing that the Venus flytrap is now becoming a vegetarian meaning it's not going to eat the bugs due to it getting more than enough nutrients from the soil Nitrogen in the air is giving them enough nutrients that they don't need to eat as many bugs. According to Dr. Jonathan Millet from Loughborough University, human activities like burning fossil fuels have upped the nitrogen in the air which gets dropped to the ground by the rain to be inhaled by the carnivorous plants' roots. Plants in more heavily polluted areas only get 22% of their nitrogen deposition through bug-eating, while plants who are, uh, planted in areas with light pollution gets 57% of their nitrogen from bugs. According to the study, the plants are turning off their bug-eating ways by making their leaves less sticky and changing its colors.
Abiotic and Biotic Factors that affect the Venus flytrap
The Venus flytrap can get affected by some abiotic/biotic factor. An abiotic factor could be the swap has no nutrients in order to get the nutrients it needs it will adapt by eating bugs to get nutrients. In another environment with rich soil the venus flytrap could become a producer and just get the nutrients it need from the soil and get sunlight to grow healthy. A biotic factor could be that there are too many herbivore, that eat the venus flytrap. This could change in a different environment because there could be less herbivores.
Bibliography
Christensen, Norman L. , Jr. "Venus's-flytrap." World Book Student. World Book, 2016. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
Christensen, Norman L. , Jr. "Carnivorous plant." World Book Student. World Book, 2016. Web. 1 Feb. 2016.
“Venus Flytrap - National Wildlife Federation." Venus Flytrap - National Wildlife Federation. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.
"Venus Flytrap." Venus Flytrap. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.
PICTURE CITATIONS -
"Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History NMNH."Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History NMNH. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.
"Barry's Web Site." Barry's Web Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.
BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.
"Venus Flytrap Center." Venus Flytrap Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.