ECOLOGY OF Utricularia aurea Lour. IN THE WATERS OF SRIWIJAYA UNIVERSITY, OGAN ILIR; NUMBER OF BLADDER, EMERGENCE AND INSPECTION OF PREY IN IT

Shallow water ecosystems such as artificial ponds or swamps, especially on campus, play an important role in maintaining micro-ecological balance. These aquatic ecosystems contain unique aquatic plants that are rarely studied in depth, one of which is Utricularia aurea. Utricularia aurea has the ability to capture small organisms such as rotifers, copepods and even mosquito larvae in the early instar phase or stage. In general, the ecological research of Utricularia aurea at Sriwijaya University provides an understanding of its interaction with prey organisms in its natural habitat, as well as an opportunity to assess the potential of this plant as a biological control. This triggered curiosity to find out about the number of bladders, the initial position of bladder appearance in Utricularia aurea plants, and what types of prey are found in Utricularia aurea bladders in Sriwijaya University waters. The method used in this research is a combined method that includes quantitative and qualitative methods. The average number of bladders found on the tip of Utricularia aurea along 10 cm in the pond near the FISIP building of Sriwijaya University was 2,029 bladders while in Lake Unsri Taman Firdaus was 3,216 bladders. Bladder appears since the first modified leaf sequence although its shape is very microscopic. Prey found in the bladder of Utricularia aurea collected from Sriwijaya University waters for now found 5 prey which are Daphnia sp., Arrenurus sp., Closterium sp. as well as additional prey from the order Trombidiformes and Coleoptera which can only be identified to the order level.