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Forest vegetation does recycle substantial amounts of silicon from and back to the soil solution with phytoliths as an intermediate phase, contrary to recent reports
Author(s) -
Farmer V. C.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
european journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 1351-0754
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.2005.00695.x
Subject(s) - phytolith , vegetation (pathology) , oxidizing agent , dissolution , litter , plant litter , pedogenesis , biogeochemical cycle , environmental science , soil science , environmental chemistry , chemistry , soil water , ecology , ecosystem , biology , organic chemistry , medicine , pollen , pathology
Summary Recent reports that forest vegetation takes up little Si and returns little to the soil in litter are based on the mistaken assumption that digestion of leaf and litter in hot oxidizing acids can bring phytoliths, a form of opaline silica, into solution. Phytolith formation and dissolution can explain a number of otherwise puzzling aspects of Si in soil solution.