MINERAL-NUTRITION OF CARNIVOROUS PLANTS - A REVIEW

Plant carnivory is one of many possible adaptation strategies to unfav orable conditions, mostly low nutrient availability in wet, acid soils . The following issues concerning the mineral nutrition of carnivorous plants are reviewed: the relative importance of carnivory and root nu trition for growth; which nutrients (elements) from prey are of princi pal importance for growth; the relationship between mineral and organi c nutrition based on carnivory; the interactions between carnivory and root mineral nutrition; and the importance of carnivory under natural conditions. Special attention is paid to aquatic carnivorous plants. Studies on mineral nutrition carried out in laboratory and/or greenhou se conditions are discussed separately from those carried out in field conditions. The emphasis of this review is on recapitulation of origi nal data and conclusions of results from a variety of studies that app roach carnivorous plants from an ecophysiological point of view.