Carnivorous plants certainly don't mind extra phosphorus, but it's usually not limiting. > I don't think this is very correct, but why do these biological mean

Carnivorous plants certainly don't mind extra phosphorus, but it's usually not limiting. > I don't think this is very correct, but why do these biological means fail in bogs/swamps? They don't. Moreover, the anoxic environment of swamps actually promotes the nitrogenase activity. However, the constant presence of water also diffuses the nutrients, and denitrifying bacteria use ammonia as an energy source. In oxygenated environments, they are typically outcompeted by regular air-breathing bacteria. This happens in regular soil, but it's normally not saturated with water, so nutrients are not constantly washed out. > All other plants in the swamp need nitrogen to grow, too, how are they doing? Not very well. Swamps are not very productive biologically. There is _some_ nitrogen available, it's just that its equilibrium concentration is much lower.