Bogging Out

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Image taken by Author. enjoying the bog scenery

    Bogs are not your typical wetlands. They stand out with their unique characteristics, such as super-high acidity levels. While not many fish call this habitat home, it’s a perfect haven for frogs, insects, and plants like the classic pitcher plant, leather leaves, and squishy moss. In “North American Nature,” Bryan Harding writes, “Bogs are unique wetland ecosystems characterized by their waterlogged, acidic, and nutrient-poor conditions.” However, we must note that this harsh ecosystem carries a distinctive, beautiful, and fascinating biodiversity. This brings us to Bear Lake Bog, a stunning, large bog that
 Image taken by Author: taking a bog nap.
showcases many examples of this unique biodiversity. As a class, we embarked on a journey to explore the depths and ecology of what a bog offers. Many of us had the misfortune of falling into the bog with a wrong step off the mossy blanket, but it turned into a fun, collective experience of climbing, jumping, and squishing the moss islands in our dedicated bog willies. As we delved deeper, we encountered many carnivorous plants and invertebrates, making the bog a special place for our class. Let's now dive into the world of pitcher plants and the fascinating ecology of bogs.                                          

Image taken by Author: Pitcher plant with flower  


    Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants that thrive in bog habitats because bogs have very low nitrogen in the soil. They prefer wet environments and rely heavily on the invertebrate population surrounding the bog for food. This invertebrate population, which includes mosquito larvae, serves as the primary food source for pitcher plants. Pitcher plants have also adapted incredibly well to eating invertebrates, so much so that pitcher plants have “downward pointing hairs and a waxy coating on the inside of leaf prevent the insect from escaping, and the enzymes produced by bacteria in the liquid at the bottom on the leaf digest the insect.” As stated by Heather Herdon in her “Natural Areas Notebook.” This incredible adaptation is not nearly the end of it either. Pitcher plants are known for using scents of nectar and already dead insects to lure unsuspecting victims to their demise. This can be considered a bug’s worst nightmare. Sorry, Garret! As the class treaded carefully along the ridge of Bear Lake Bog, we were lucky to find some mosquito larvae that Dr. Hoekman had taken a sample of inside the pitcher plant.
Image taken by Author: Mosquito larvae sample

As the larvae wiggled and danced in the water, we discussed how, even though pitcher plants have this incredible adaptation, some insects have adapted to take advantage of the pitcher plants' best survival tactics. These plants serve as shelter for mosquito larvae and a tasty snack for pitcher plant moths in the Genus Exyra, which munch on them for nutrients and have adapted to cut a hole in the bottom of the pitcher plant to drain them. Then, these moths live within the plant, allowing them to strategically eat it without dying. With this discussion, I understood how everything intertwines and plays a role together. The pitcher plant takes care of overpopulations of insects, but the mosquito adapts with their larvae to live inside the bowl of the pitcher plant, becoming shelter for the mosquito. The moths then eat the pitcher plants to control the pitcher plant population and, evidently, the mosquito population, as the larvae need to be in water until adulthood, and this fragile cycle repeats. This showcases how the ecosystem interconnects and balances itself out. Without this ecological cycle, the bog ecosystem would not be as harmonious and beautiful as it was when we experienced it as a class. All in all, bogs are densely unique, and the ecological aspects of this type of habitat are complex and beautiful. Making this a great stop for any ecology class to experience.

  Image created by the author: Garret, Insect Ecology class mascot 2024















Sources

 

Herndon, Heather. 2016. “Pitcher Perfect.” Natural Areas Notebook. October 19, 2016. https://oaklandnaturalareas.com/2016/10/19/pitcher-perfect/.

 

Harding, Bryan. 2023. “Bogs.” North American Nature. July 21, 2023. https://northamericannature.com/bogs/.

 

 

 

 

 

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