The epiphytic water world of Collospermum hastatum (Colenso) Skottsb.

Abstract

IIntroduction Epiphytic plants are often adapted to hold water, either in leaf axils, or in some sort of central cup (Richardson 1999). These bodies of water (called phytotelmata) (Fig. 1) frequently provide habitats for communities of aquatic microorganisms. Bromeliads, commonly grown as house and garden plants in New Zealand, are the most frequently studied group of phytotelmic plants (Frank & Lounibos 2009; Jacque et al. 2010; Brouard et al. 2011; Panlzzo 2011).

Many gardeners will know that bromeliads provide a habitat for mosquitos, so it Is not surprising to discover that a wide diversity of macro-invertebrates have been recorded from plants in a natural habitat. These include members of the Turbellaria, Rotifera, Nematoda, Annelida, Crustacea, Odonata, Hemiptera, Orthoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Dermaptera, Blattodea, soptera {Frank & Lounibos 2009; Torreias & Ferreira-Keppler 2011) and Arachnida (Magi 2004). These macro-invertebrates support amphibians in both mature •and immature life stages (Wittman 2000). The high level of invertebrate diversity is, in turn, partly dependent upon algae as a source of nutrition (Brouard et al. 2011).