Why do plants silicify?

Félix de Tombeur; John A Raven; Aurèle Toussaint; Hans Lambers; Julia Cooke; Sue E Hartley; Scott N Johnson; Sylvain Coq; Ofir Katz; Jörg Schaller; Cyrille Violle

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2022.11.002

Why do plants silicify?

Trends Ecol Evol. 2023 Mar;38(3):275-288. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.11.002. Epub 2022 Nov 23.

Authors

Félix de Tombeur¹, John A Raven², Aurèle Toussaint³, Hans Lambers⁴, Julia Cooke⁵, Sue E Hartley⁶, Scott N Johnson⁷, Sylvain Coq⁸, Ofir Katz⁹, Jörg Schaller¹⁰, Cyrille Violle⁸

Affiliations

¹ CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France; School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. Electronic address: felix.detombeur@cefe.cnrs.fr.
² Division of Plant Science, University of Dundee at the James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, UK; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; Climate Change Cluster, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, Australia.
³ Department of Botany, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
⁴ School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
⁵ School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.
⁶ Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
⁷ Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia.
⁸ CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France.
⁹ Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Mount Masada, Tamar Regional Council, Israel; Eilat Campus, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Eilat, Israel.
¹⁰ Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany.

PMID: 36428125
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.11.002

Abstract

Despite seminal papers that stress the significance of silicon (Si) in plant biology and ecology, most studies focus on manipulations of Si supply and mitigation of stresses. The ecological significance of Si varies with different levels of biological organization, and remains hard to capture. We show that the costs of Si accumulation are greater than is currently acknowledged, and discuss potential links between Si and fitness components (growth, survival, reproduction), environment, and ecosystem functioning. We suggest that Si is more important in trait-based ecology than is currently recognized. Si potentially plays a significant role in many aspects of plant ecology, but knowledge gaps prevent us from understanding its possible contribution to the success of some clades and the expansion of specific biomes.

Keywords: costs; ecosystem functioning; fitness; functional trait; grassland; silicification.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Ecology*
Ecosystem*
Plants
Silicon

Substances

Silicon