Phytotelma (plural phytotelmata) is a small water-filled cavity in a terrestrial plant. The water accumulated within these plants may serve as the habitat for associated

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

and

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

. A rich literature in German summarised by Thienemann (1954) developed many aspects of phytotelm biology. Reviews of the subject by Kitching (1971) and Maguire (1971) introduced the concept of phytotelmata to English-speaking readers. A multi-authored book edited by Frank and Lounibos (1983)Frank, J.H. and Lounibos, L.P. (1983) ''Phytotelmata: Terrestrial plants as hosts for aquatic insect communities'', Plexus Press. dealt in 11 chapters with classification of phytotelmata, and with phytotelmata provided by bamboo internodes, banana leaf axils,

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a Family (biology), family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the Tropics, tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and on ...

leaf axils, ''

Nepenthes ''Nepenthes'' ( ) is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are m ...

'' pitchers, ''

Sarracenia ''Sarracenia'' ( or ) is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants, commonly called trumpet pitchers. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera '' Darlingtonia'' and '' ...

'' pitchers, tree holes, and '' Heliconia'' flower

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s and leaf rolls. A classification of phytotelmata by Kitching (2000) recognizes five principal types: bromeliad tanks, certain

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They have adapted to grow in waterlo ...

s such as

pitcher plant Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of pitcher plant are considered to be "true" pitcher plants and are formed by specialized ...

s, water-filled tree hollows,

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

internodes, and axil water (collected at the base of leaves, petals or

s); it concentrated on food webs. A review by Greeney (2001) identified seven forms: tree holes, leaf

axil A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

s, flowers, modified leaves, fallen vegetative parts (e.g. leaves or bracts), fallen fruit

husk Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an Ear (botany), ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes t ...

s, and stem rots.

Etymology

The word "phytotelma" derives from the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

roots ''phyto-'', meaning 'plant', and '' telma'', meaning 'pond'. Thus, the correct

singular Singular may refer to: * Singular, the grammatical number that denotes a unit quantity, as opposed to the plural and other forms * Singular or sounder, a group of boar, see List of animal names * Singular (band), a Thai jazz pop duo *'' Singula ...

is ''phytotelma''. The term was coined by L. Varga in 1928. The correct pronunciation is "phytotēlma" and "phytotēlmata" because of the Greek origin (the stressed vowels are here written as ''ē'').

Ecology

Often the faunae associated with phytotelmata are unique: Different groups of microcrustaceans occur in phytotelmata, including

ostracod Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a Class (biology), class of the crustacean, Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 33,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant taxon, extant) have been identified,Brandão, S.N.; Antoni ...

s (''Elpidium spp''. ''Metacypris bromeliarum''), harpacticoid copepods (''Bryocamptus spp'', ''Moraria arboricola, Attheyella spp.'') and cyclopoid copepods ('' Bryocyclops spp''.,''Tropocyclops'' ''jamaicensis''). In tropical and subtropical rainforest habitats, many species of frogs specialize on phytotelma as a readily available breeding ground, such as some microhylids (in pitcher plants),

poison dart frog Poison dart frog (also known as dart-poison frog, poison frog or formerly known as poison arrow frog) is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to tropical Central and South America. These species are ...

s and some

tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia suborder have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not clos ...

s (in bromeliads). Many insects use them for breeding and foraging, for instance odonates, water bugs,

beetles Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

and dipterans. Some species also are of great practical significance; for example, immature stages of some

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

es, such as some ''

Anopheles ''Anopheles'' () is a genus of mosquito first described by the German entomologist Johann Wilhelm Meigen, J. W. Meigen in 1818, and are known as nail mosquitoes and marsh mosquitoes. Many such mosquitoes are Disease vector, vectors of the paras ...

'' and ''

Aedes ''Aedes'' (also known as the tiger mosquito) is a genus of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except Antarctica. Some species have been spread by human activity: ''Aedes albopictus'', ...

'' species that are important disease vectors, develop in phytotelmata. As these are such small systems, there may be great risk of nitrogenous waste eventually putrefying phytotelmata, killing their inhabitants. Potentially relevant is that tadpoles of the species '' Kurixalus eiffingeri'' have been found to avoid

defecation Defecation (or defaecation) follows digestion and is the necessary biological process by which organisms eliminate a solid, semisolid, or liquid metabolic waste, waste material known as feces (or faeces) from the digestive tract via the anus o ...

until after

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...

, when they have vacated phytotelmata. This may evidence

selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strat ...

for social sanitation, and the discoverers surmise this may be a selective pressure for other denizens of phytotelmata as well.

References

{{reflist

External links

Bromeliad Biota

Heliconia Biota

Video footage of a beech tree-hole Ecology Plant anatomy

Etymology

Ecology

See also

References

External links