https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.95x69p8tf

Files

Raw data files:

• Observational_results.csv -- The sorted/massed prey contents and foliar nitrogen and carbon concentrations (%) in the pitchers sampled during the observational field study.
• Obs_longitudinal.csv -- The weekly counts of different pitcher content items captured during the longitudinal observational field study.
• Vitro_results.csv -- The diet treatment and fluid ammonia measures for the in vitro model pitchers (small glass vials).
• Vivo_CHN_duplicates_data.csv -- The percent foliar nitrogen and carbon of pitcher samples from the in vitro field experiment, measured in duplicate using CHN combustion analysis.
• Vivo_Metadata.csv -- The diet treatments and notes for the pitcher plants used in the in vivo field experiment.
• Greenhouse.csv -- The percent foliar nitrogen and carbon, diet treatments, plant morphology, and growth metrics for the pitchers used during the in vivo greenhouse experiment.

Code:

Leaf_litter_Sarracenia_purpurea.R -- Code for data cleaning, analysis, and plot construction for all experiments in the study.(In Zenodo)

Glossary of terms:

Observational_results.csv

• pitcher_ID -- unique plant ID for each plant sampled (one pitcher leaf was sampled on each individual plant)
• other_biomass -- all non-plant biomass (in grams) present inside the sampled pitcher, including insect prey and living inquilines
• plant_biomass -- all dead plant biomass (in grams) present inside the sampled pitcher
• livep_biomass -- all live plant biomass (in grams) present inside the sampled pitcher (some pitchers contained living aquatic plants, such as Lemna spp. or Utricularia spp.)
• %nitrogen -- CHN combustion analysis result: the % foliar nitrogen within the sampled pitcher leaf tissues
• %carbon -- CHN combustion analysis result: the % foliar carbon within the sampled pitcher leaf tissues

Obs_longitudinal.csv

• plantID -- unique plant ID for each individual plant (collected prey from 1 leaf per plant)
• date -- sample collection date in the format month/day/year
• leaf:seed -- counts of plant material; some plant material is subdivided into more specific categories
• no_fluid -- 1 indicates pitcher was empty of fluid, making prey capture impossible
• damage -- 1 indicates pitcher was damaged, preventing fluid accumulation
• mL -- number of mL of water accumulated in control tubes of water (50mL falcon tubes) left in the bog
• Arthropods -- counts of all arthropod prey

Vitro_results.csv

• tube_ID -- unique ID for each model pitcher (a glass tube) to which a diet treatment was applied
• treatment -- diet treatment applied to the glass tubes: X = control treatment (no addition), P = plant treatment (90mg dried leaf litter added), I = insect treatment (two adult blue bottle flies added)
• ammonia -- ammonia levels (ppm) measured using test strips, 4 weeks after treatment application. NA = vials that were voided and ammonia level wasn't measured (tubes 22 and 23).

Vivo_CHN_duplicates_data.csv

• pitcher_ID -- unique plant ID for each plant sampled (one pitcher leaf on each individual plant was given an experimental diet treatment and sampled for CHN combustion)
• replicate -- the CHN combustion replicate number (either duplicate 1 or 2)
• Well -- the position of each sample in the 96-well plate for the CHN analyzer
• N -- percent foliar nitrogen in the pitcher tissue sample
• C -- percent foliar carbon in the pitcher tissue sample

Vivo_Metadata.csv

• plant_ID -- unique plant ID for each plant sampled (one pitcher leaf on each individual plant was given an experimental diet treatment and sampled for CHN combustion)
• treatment -- diet treatment applied to the wild pitchers: X = control treatment (no addition), P = plant treatment (90mg dried leaf litter added), I = insect treatment (two adult blue bottle flies added)
• emptied -- whether the fluid/contents of the pitcher were emptied at some point during the experimental period (yes/no)
• Notes -- notes about each pitcher during the experimental period, including information about how some pitchers were emptied

Greenhouse.csv

Across all columns, "NA" = Not applicable

• plantID -- unique plant ID for each plant sampled
• treatment -- diet treatment applied to the greenhouse pitchers: X = control treatment (no addition), P = plant treatment (20mg dried leaf litter added)
• diameter -- the diameter (cm) of each plant's rosette, measured at the widest point, at the start of each round (final diameter of round 1 is the starting diameter of round 2)
• matLeaf -- the number of mature (open, non-senesced) pitchers on each plant at the start of each round (final number of mature pitchers in round 1 is the starting number in round 2)
• youngLeaf -- the number of young (still psittacina shaped) pitchers on each plant at the start of each round (final number of young pitchers in round 1 is the starting number in round 2)
• inqOrderMay -- the order (1-24) in which inquilines were added to the round 1 pitchers on May 25th (this was done to control for selecting inquilines of a particular size)
• inqOrderJune -- the order (1-24) in which inquilines were added to the round 1 pitchers on June 28th (this was done to control for selecting inquilines of a particular size)
• brown2023.06.08 -- the recorded senescing of the round 1 experimental pitchers on June 8th (0 = no browning, 1 = some browning)
• brown2023.06.23 -- the recorded senescing of the round 1 experimental pitchers on June 23rd (0 = no browning, 1 = some browning)
• brown_harvest -- the recorded senescing condition of the round 1 experimental pitchers during harvest (July 22nd)
• harvest_order -- the order (1-24) in which experimental pitchers were harvested at the end of round 1
• notes -- miscellaneous notes about the experimental pitchers/plants during round 1 and 2
• round -- the round (1 or 2) of diet treatments
• diameter_final -- the diameter (cm) of each plant's rosette, measured at the widest point, at the end of each round (final diameter of round 1 is the starting diameter of round 2)
• matLeaf_final -- the number of mature (open, non-senesced) pitchers on each plant at the start of each round (final number of mature pitchers in round 1 is the starting number in round 2)
• youngLeaf_final -- the number of young (still psittacina shaped) pitchers on each plant at the start of each round (final number of young pitchers in round 1 is the starting number in round 2)
• dDiam -- the difference in the diameter (cm) of each plant's rosette between the start and end of each round
• dmatLeaf -- the difference in the number of mature pitchers on each plant between the start and end of each round
• dyoungLeaf -- the difference in the number of young pitchers on each plant between the start and end of each round
• pH -- the final fluid pH of each pitcher (only recorded for round 2)
• inqOrderJuly -- the order (1-24) in which inquilines were added to the round 2 pitchers on July 22nd (this was done to control for selecting inquilines of a particular size)
• inqOrderSept -- the order (1-24) in which inquilines were added to the round 2 pitchers on September 1st (this was done to control for selecting inquilines of a particular size)
• wym_final_live -- the number of living Wyeomyia smithii (mosquito inquilines) in each pitcher at the end of round 2
• wym_final_dead_adult -- the number of dead adult Wyeomyia smithii (mosquito inquilines) in each pitcher at the end of round 2
• wym_final_dead_pupa -- the number of dead pupal Wyeomyia smithii (mosquito inquilines) in each pitcher at the end of round 2
• met_final_live -- the number of living larval Metriocnemus knabi (midge inquilines) in each pitcher at the end of round 2
• met_final_dead -- the number of dead larval Metriocnemus knabi (midge inquilines) in each pitcher at the end of round 2
• brown2023.07.22 -- the recorded condition of the round 2 experimental pitchers at the beginning of the round (July 22nd)
• brown2023.09.01 -- the recorded senescing of the round 2 experimental pitchers on September 1st (0 = no browning, 1 = some browning)
• nitrogen -- percent foliar nitrogen in the pitcher tissue sample
• carbon -- percent foliar carbon in the pitcher tissue sample