Small-scale patterns in community structure of Sarracenia purpurea inquilines

We examined the environmental factors associated with community structure in the inquiline communities of the purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea L.). We sampled all 141 communities in a 10- x 20-m grid and recorded their spatial relationships to determine the relative influence of environmental and spatial factors on community structure. Environmental and spatial factors contributed equally to the variance in community composition (species identity and abundance) among pitchers. The species richness of communities was influenced by both spatial and environmental variables, particularly environmental variables related to community size. In addition, our study suggests a number of hypotheses about factors influencing community structure (e.g. predation) that could be tested experimentally.