Carnivorous plant often waterlogged, which favours the production of toxic ions such as ammonium, and its pH is an acidic 4 to 5. Ammonium can be used as a source of nitrogen by plants, but its high toxicity means that concentrations high enough to fertilise are also high enough to cause damage. However, the habitat is warm, sunny, constantly moist, and the plant experiences relatively little competition from low growing "Sphagnum" moss. Still, carnivores are also found in very atypical habitats. "Drosophyllum lusitanicum" is found around desert edges and "Pinguicula valisneriifolia" on limestone (calcium-rich) cliffs. In all the studied cases, carnivory allows
Plant cover Plant cover The abundances of plant species are often measured by plant cover, which is the relative area covered by different plant species in a small plot. Plant cover is not biased by the size and distributions of individuals, and is an important and often measured characteristic of the composition of plant communities. Plant cover data may be used to classify the studied plant community into a vegetation type, to test different ecological hypothesis on plant abundance, and in gradient studies, where the effects of different environmental gradients on the abundance of specific plant species are investigated. The most common