Interactions between carnivorous pitcher plants and bats in Borneo

我们研究了婆罗洲蝙蝠和食肉猪笼草之间的一种非同寻常的互利互动(资源服务)。最近，我们展示了猪笼草植物猪笼草变种。拉加塔大约三分之一的氮需求来自哈德威克毛蝙蝠(Kerivoula Hardwickii Hardwickii)的粪便，这些蝙蝠只栖息在它的空中水罐里。我们假设，与其他猪笼草相比，这种特殊的猪笼草形状使它们成为捕虫器很差的昆虫捕捉器，这是一种进化适应，可以作为蝙蝠的白天栖息地。为了调查这种令人着迷的相互作用的伙伴之间可能的依赖以及他们从相互作用中获得的成本和收益，我们将使用以下综合方法：1)野外和实验室观察蝙蝠对猪笼草的行为，2)野外和实验室实验测量猪笼草从蝙蝠的存在中获得的好处和成本，3)蝙蝠和猪笼草种群结构的遗传分析，以及4)在野外自然条件和实验室控制条件下生长的猪笼草的氮含量的化学分析。考虑到实验操作，水壶-植物-蝙蝠系统提供了一个极好的机会来研究植物和哺乳动物之间特殊形式的种间关系。

We study an extraordinary mutualistic interaction (resource-service) between bats and carnivorous pitcher plants in Borneo. Recently, we showed that the pitcher plant Nepenthes rafflesiana var. elongata gains about a third of its nitrogen demand from faeces of Hardwicke’s woolly bats (Kerivoula hardwickii hardwickii) that exclusively roost in its aerial pitchers. We hypothesise that the extraordinary pitcher form of N. r. elongata, which makes them poor insect traps compared to other pitcher plants, is an evolutionary adaptation to serve as a day roost for bats. To investigate a possible dependence between the partners of this fascinating interaction as well as costs and benefits that they gain from their interactions, we will use a combination of: 1) field and lab observations of the bats’ behaviour towards pitcher plants, 2) field and lab experiments measuring the benefits and costs the pitcher plants obtain from the presence of the bats, 3) genetic analyses of population structures of bats and pitcher plants, and 4) chemical analyses of the nitrogen contents of pitcher plants growing under natural conditions in the field and controlled conditions in the lab. Allowing for experimental manipulation, the pitcher-plant-bat system offers an excellent opportunity to examine an exceptional form of inter-specific relationship between plants and mammals.