Though we were many time zones apart, I had the honor of chatting with Laura about her research with carnivorous plants in Western Australia! That's right, Laura studies plants that eat BUGS! If you've ever wondered, "how weird can plants get?" than this is the episode for you.
Suggested Reading:
ABC News about Laura's research: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-25/researcher-scouring-remote-wa-to-document-insect-eating-plants/8471012
IUCN support page for carnivorous plant research & conservation: http://support.iucnredlist.org/carnivorousplants
A message from David Attenborough, patron of the IUCN Carnivorous Plant Specialist Group: http://www.iucn-cpsg.org/
Follow me: PhDrinking@gmail.com, @PhDrinking, @SadieWit, www.facebook.com/PhDrinking/
Follow Laura Skates: @floraskates, http://lauraskates.com/current-project/
Thanks to www.bensound.com/ for the intro/outro
Thanks to @TylerDamme for audio editing
Interested in more technical reading? Check out these links:
Theory about carnivorous plants being restricted to sunny, wet, nutrient-poor conditions: Givnish, T., Burkhardt, E., Happel, R., & Weintraub, J. (1984). Carnivory in the Bromeliad Brocchinia reducta, with a Cost/Benefit Model for the General Restriction of Carnivorous Plants to Sunny, Moist, Nutrient-Poor Habitats. The American Naturalist, 124(4), 479-497. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2461590
The fly living in the Albany Pitcher Plant: Lymbery, S. J., Didham, R. K., Hopper, S. D., & Simmons, L. W. (2016). Mutualists or parasites? Context-dependent influence of symbiotic fly larvae on carnivorous investment in the Albany pitcher plant. Royal Society Open Science, 3(11), 160690. http://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160690
Conservation and threats to carnivorous plant populations: Jennings, D. E., & Rohr, J. R. (2011). A review of the conservation threats to carnivorous plants. Biological Conservation, 144(5), 1356-1363.
