Silicon accumulation controls carbon cycle in wetlands through modifying nutrients stoichiometry and lignin synthesis of Phragmites australis
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Song, Zhaoliang
Van Zwieten, Lukas
Guo, Laodong
Yu, Changxun
Hartley, Iain P
Wang, Hailong
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Abstract
Silicon (Si) is one of the most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust but its role in governing the biogeochemical cycling of other elements remains poor understood. There is a paucity of information on the role of Si in wetland plants, and how this may alter wetland C production and storage. Therefore, this study investigated Si distribution, nutrient stoichiometry and lignin abundance in Phragmites australis from a wetland system in China to better understand the biogeochemical cycling and C storage. Our data show that Si content (ranging between 0.202% to 6.614%) of Phragmites australis is negatively correlated with C concentration (38.150%–47.220%). Furthermore, Si content was negatively antagonistically related to the concentration of lignin-derived phenols in the stem (66.763–120.670 mg g-1 C) and sheath (65.400–114.118 mg g-1 C), but only a weak relationship was observed in the leaf tissue (36.439–55.905 mg g-1 C), which is relevant to the photosynthesis or stabilization function of the plant tissues. These results support the notion that biogenic Si (BSi) can substitute lignin as a structural component, due to their similar eco-physiological functions, reduces costs associated with lignin biosynthesis. The accumulation of BSi increased total biomass C storage and nutrient accumulation due to greater productivity of Phragmites australis. On the other hand, BSi regulated litter composition and quality (e.g., nutrient stoichiometry and lignin) that provide a possibility for the factors affecting litter decomposition. Thus competing processes (i.e., biomass quantity vs quality) can be influenced by Si cycling in wetlands.
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Environmental and Experimental Botany
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175
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© 2024. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Xia, S; Song, Z; Van Zwieten, L; Guo, L; Yu, C; Hartley, IP; Wang, H, Silicon accumulation controls carbon cycle in wetlands through modifying nutrients stoichiometry and lignin synthesis of Phragmites australis, Environmental and Experimental Botany, 2020, 175, pp. 104058