About this Research Topic
The benefits of silicon (Si) for plants and ecosystem functioning have been well demonstrated in numerous scientific publications. Moreover, Si cycling represents a key control in climate change, since Si and carbon (C) cycles are closely linked along the land-ocean continuum. To understand how Si is cycled in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, a quantification of the different Si pools and fluxes is essential. In this context, a special focus is on the formation of biogenic silica (BSi) by various organisms in both terrestrial and aquatic environments, such as plants, macroalgae, sponges, diatoms, or testate amoebae. This is because BSi dissolution controls Si cycling on a much shorter time scale than silicate mineral weathering. However, although research has been improving our knowledge of Si cycling in general, we are still a long way from being able to comprehensibly quantify Si pools in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and Si fluxes within or between these systems.
In this Research Topic, we would like to compile detailed information on Si pools and fluxes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, i.e., on Si pool and flux quantities, drivers, and interactions. Our goal is to compile a comprehensive overview of how Si cycling is functioning on the ecosystem scale and beyond. Evolving analytical tools like Si isotope analysis, improved Si extraction methods, and an advanced understanding of biosilicification in plants and other Si accumulating organisms, for example, will allow us to achieve this goal. In this context, manuscripts on all aspects of Si pools and/or fluxes in terrestrial and/or aquatic ecosystems are welcome.
We invite a wide scope of research and review articles that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
• Si pool and flux quantities in terrestrial and /or aquatic ecosystems
• Biogenic silica (e.g., phytoliths, sponge spicules, diatom frustules, testate amoeba shells)
• Biogenic and minerogenic Si fractions in soils or sediments
• Si isotope analysis
• Effects of global change on Si cycling
• Mitigation of climate change-related impacts using Si
In this Research Topic, we would like to compile detailed information on Si pools and fluxes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, i.e., on Si pool and flux quantities, drivers, and interactions. Our goal is to compile a comprehensive overview of how Si cycling is functioning on the ecosystem scale and beyond. Evolving analytical tools like Si isotope analysis, improved Si extraction methods, and an advanced understanding of biosilicification in plants and other Si accumulating organisms, for example, will allow us to achieve this goal. In this context, manuscripts on all aspects of Si pools and/or fluxes in terrestrial and/or aquatic ecosystems are welcome.
We invite a wide scope of research and review articles that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
• Si pool and flux quantities in terrestrial and /or aquatic ecosystems
• Biogenic silica (e.g., phytoliths, sponge spicules, diatom frustules, testate amoeba shells)
• Biogenic and minerogenic Si fractions in soils or sediments
• Si isotope analysis
• Effects of global change on Si cycling
• Mitigation of climate change-related impacts using Si
Keywords: Silicon cycling, biogeochemistry, biogenic silica, silicon fractions, global change
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
