Bladder function in Utricularia purpurea (Lentibulariaceae): is carnivory important?

Utricularia purpurea is a rootless, free-floating, aquatic, carnivorous plant. I quantified biomass investment in U. purpurea traps and determined when traps begin to function and what they trap in natural habitats. In the Everglades of south Florida, plants invest an average of 26% of their biomass in bladders, although bladder number varies among sites and over time. Leaves begin trapping as they mature, and on leaves one whorl older than the most recently matured leaves, almost 100% of bladders have allochthonous material. Despite the substantial investment in their biomass, bladders capture few aquatic microinvertebrates. Almost all mature bladders, however, have living communities of algae, zooplankton, and associated debris. These results support the hypotheses that the important association in U. purpurea bladders is a mutualism rather than a predator–prey interaction and that the major benefit to the plants from bladders is derived from this community.