Carnivorous plant because light will be more limiting than nutrients. A plant can grow at zero investment in carnivory; this is also the "optimum" investment for a plant, as any investment in traps reduces net photosynthesis (growth) to less than the net photosynthesis of a plant that obtains its nutrients from soil alone. Carnivorous plants exist between these two extremes: the less limiting light and water are, and the more limiting soil nutrients are, the higher the optimum investment in carnivory, and hence the more obvious the adaptations will be to the casual observer. The most obvious evidence for this model is
Plant nutrition nutrients a plant may be lacking. Many plants engage in symbiosis with microorganisms. Two important types of these relationship are Though nitrogen is plentiful in the Earth's atmosphere, relatively few plants harbour nitrogen-fixing bacteria, so most plants rely on nitrogen compounds present in the soil to support their growth. These can be supplied by mineralization of soil organic matter or added plant residues, nitrogen fixing bacteria, animal waste, through the breaking of triple bonded N molecules by lightning strikes or through the application of fertilizers. At least 17 elements are known to be essential nutrients for plants. In relatively large