Phytotelma

The word "phytotelma" derives from the ancient Greek roots phyto-, meaning 'plant', and telma, meaning 'pond'. Thus, the correct singular is phytotelma.

The term was coined by L. Varga in 1928.Varga, L. (1928). Ein interessanter Biotop der Biocönose von Wasserorganism. Biologische Zentralblatt 48: 143–162.

The correct pronunciation is "phytotēlma" and "phytotēlmata" because of the Greek origin (the stressed vowels are here written as ē).

Often the faunae associated with phytotelmata are unique: Different groups of microcrustaceans occur in phytotelmata, including ostracods (Elpidium spp. Metacypris bromeliarum), harpacticoid copepods (Bryocamptus spp, Moraria arboricola, Attheyella spp.{{Cite journal|last1=Janetzky|first1=Wolfgang|last2=Martinez Arbizu|first2=Pedro|last3=Reid|first3=Janet W.|date=1996-11-01|title=Attheyella (Canthosella) mervini sp.n. (Canthocamptidae, Harpacticoida) from Jamaican bromeliads|journal=Hydrobiologia|language=en|volume=339|issue=1|pages=123–135|doi=10.1007/BF00008920|s2cid=26975439 |issn=1573-5117}}) and cyclopoid copepods (Bryocyclops spp.,Tropocyclops jamaicensis{{Cite journal|last1=Reid|first1=Janet W.|last2=Janetzky|first2=Wolfgang|date=1996|title=Colonization of Jamaican Bromeliads by Tropocyclops jamaicensis n. sp. (Crustacea: Copepoda: Cyclopoida)|journal=Invertebrate Biology|volume=115|issue=4|pages=305|doi=10.2307/3227020|jstor=3227020|issn=1077-8306}}).{{Cite book|last=Klein, J. C. von Vaupel.|title=Treatise on Zoology - Anatomy, Taxonomy, Biology. The Crustacea, Volume 4 Part B.|date=2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-26493-9|location=Leiden|oclc=883570588}}

In tropical and subtropical rainforest habitats, many species of frogs specialize on phytotelma as a readily available breeding ground, such as some microhylids{{Cite journal|last1=DAS|first1=INDRANEIL|last2=HAAS|first2=ALEXANDER|date=2010-08-19|title=New species of Microhyla from Sarawak: Old World's smallest frogs crawl out of miniature pitcher plants on Borneo (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae)|journal=Zootaxa|volume=2571|issue=1|pages=37|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2571.1.2|issn=1175-5334|url=http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/3386/7/NewspeciesofMicrohyla.pdf }} (in pitcher plants), poison dart frogs{{Cite journal|last1=McKeon|first1=C. Seabird|last2=Summers|first2=Kyle|date=2013-06-22|title=Predator driven reproductive behavior in a tropical frog|journal=Evolutionary Ecology|volume=27|issue=4|pages=725–737|doi=10.1007/s10682-013-9641-3|s2cid=14167813 |issn=0269-7653}} and some tree frogs (in bromeliads).{{Cite journal|last1=Alves‐Silva|first1=Ricardo|last2=da Silva|first2=Hélio Ricardo|date=January 2009|title=Life in bromeliads: reproductive behaviour and the monophyly of the Scinax perpusillus species group (Anura: Hylidae)|journal=Journal of Natural History|language=en|volume=43|issue=3–4|pages=205–217|doi=10.1080/00222930802568808|s2cid=84687680 |issn=0022-2933}}{{Cite journal|last1=Sabagh|first1=Leandro Talione|last2=Ferreira|first2=Rodrigo Barbosa|last3=Rocha|first3=Carlos Frederico Duarte|date=November 2017|title=Host bromeliads and their associated frog species: Further considerations on the importance of species interactions for conservation|journal=Symbiosis|language=en|volume=73|issue=3|pages=201–211|doi=10.1007/s13199-017-0500-9|s2cid=22774389 |issn=0334-5114}}

Many insects use them for breeding and foraging, for instance odonates, water bugs, beetles and dipterans.Hayford, Barbara, Timo Förster, Vivek Patel, & Caroline S. Chaboo. 2021. Aquatic Diptera associated with Neotropical Zingiberales phytotelmata (Diptera). Journal of Natural History 54:43-44, 2815-2838, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2020.1871522.{{Cite journal|last=Greeney|first=Harold F.|date=March 2001|title=The insects of plant-held waters: a review and bibliography|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S026646740100116X/type/journal_article|journal=Journal of Tropical Ecology|language=en|volume=17|issue=2|pages=241–260|doi=10.1017/S026646740100116X|s2cid=59482658 |issn=0266-4674}} Some species also are of great practical significance; for example, immature stages of some mosquitoes, such as some Anopheles and Aedes species that are important disease vectors, develop in phytotelmata.

As these are such small systems, there may be great risk of nitrogenous waste eventually putrefying phytotelmata, killing their inhabitants. Potentially relevant is that tadpoles of the species Kurixalus eiffingeri have been found to avoid defecation until after metamorphosis, when they have vacated phytotelmata. This may evidence selection for social sanitation, and the discoverers surmise this may be a selective pressure for other denizens of phytotelmata as well.{{Cite journal |last=Ito |first=Bun |last2=Okada |first2=Yasukazu |date=2024-09-22 |title=Phytotelmata‐dwelling frog larvae might exhibit no defecation: A unique adaptation to a closed aquatic environment |url=https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4428 |journal=Ecology |language=en |doi=10.1002/ecy.4428 |issn=0012-9658|doi-access=free|volume=105|issue=11|id=Article No. e4428}}

• Nepenthes infauna
• Bromeliaceae

{{reflist}}

• [http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/frank/bromeliadbiota/bromfit.htm] Bromeliad Biota
• [http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/frank/heliconiabiota] Heliconia Biota
• [https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=Ex9UWnrdU4U] Video footage of a beech tree-hole

Category:Ecology

Category:Plant anatomy