ECOLOGICAL REQUIREMENTS AND RECENT EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTION OF THE AQUATIC CARNIVOROUS PLANT ALDROVANDA-VESICULOSA L - A REVIEW

Aldrovanda vesiculosa, a critically endangered aquatic carnivorous plant, is a species rapidly vanishing from Europe. A map of its recent European distribution is given. Of its earlier distribution area covering a substantial part of Europe, only a few native sites in Hungary, Poland, Romania Russia and Ukraine remain. On the basis of the literature, field research in Aldrovanda habitats, and experience of its cultivation both in culture and in the field, its ecological requirements and habitat characteristics are reviewed. The most important requirements appear to be a high CO2 concentration, a medium concentration of humic acids in the water, warm water of high transparency, and a very low biomass of accompanying aquatic plants. The possibility of forming new substitute localities of Aldrovanda is discussed.