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Title: Does elevated CO2 alter silica uptake in trees?

Abstract

Human activities have greatly altered global carbon (C) and Nitrogen (N) cycling. In fact, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased 40% over the last century and the amount of N cycling in the biosphere has more than doubled. In an effort to understand how plants will respond to continued global CO2 fertilization, longterm free-air CO2 enrichment experiments have been conducted at sites around the globe. Here we examine how atmospheric CO2 enrichment and N fertilization affects the uptake of silicon (Si) in the Duke Forest, North Carolina, a stand dominated by Pinus taeda (loblolly pine), and five hardwood species. Specifically, we measured foliar biogenic silica concentrations in five deciduous and one coniferous species across three treatments: CO2 enrichment, N enrichment, and N and CO2 enrichment. We found no consistent trends in foliar Si concentration under elevated CO2, N fertilization, or combined elevated CO2 and N fertilization. However, two-thirds of the tree species studied here have Si foliar concentrations greater than well-known Si accumulators, such as grasses. Based on net primary production values and aboveground Si concentrations in these trees, we calculated forest Si uptake rates under control and elevated CO2 concentrations. Due largely to increased primary production, elevatedmore » CO2 enhanced the magnitude of Si uptake between 20 and 26%, likely intensifying the terrestrial silica pump. This uptake of Si by forests has important implications for Si export from terrestrial systems, with the potential to impact C sequestration and higher trophic levels in downstream ecosystems.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Boston Univ., MA (United States)
  2. The Ecosystems Center, Woods Hole, MA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Associated Universities, Inc., Washington, DC (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Sloan Foundation, New York, NY (United States); National Institute for Global Environmental Change (NIGEC), New Orleans, LA (United States); Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham, AL (United States). Southeast Regional Center (SERC)
OSTI Identifier:
1204502
Grant/Contract Number:  
FG02-97ER25308
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Plant Science
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 1664-462X
Publisher:
Frontiers Research Foundation
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; elevated CO2; silicon; forest Si uptake; terrestrial Si pump; active Si accumulation; Si cycling

Citation Formats

Fulweiler, Robinson W., Maguire, Timothy J., Carey, Joanna C., and Finzi, Adrien C. Does elevated CO2 alter silica uptake in trees?. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.3389/fpls.2014.00793.
Fulweiler, Robinson W., Maguire, Timothy J., Carey, Joanna C., & Finzi, Adrien C. Does elevated CO2 alter silica uptake in trees?. United States. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2014.00793
Fulweiler, Robinson W., Maguire, Timothy J., Carey, Joanna C., and Finzi, Adrien C. Tue . "Does elevated CO2 alter silica uptake in trees?". United States. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2014.00793. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1204502.
@article{osti_1204502,
title = {Does elevated CO2 alter silica uptake in trees?},
author = {Fulweiler, Robinson W. and Maguire, Timothy J. and Carey, Joanna C. and Finzi, Adrien C.},
abstractNote = {Human activities have greatly altered global carbon (C) and Nitrogen (N) cycling. In fact, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased 40% over the last century and the amount of N cycling in the biosphere has more than doubled. In an effort to understand how plants will respond to continued global CO2 fertilization, longterm free-air CO2 enrichment experiments have been conducted at sites around the globe. Here we examine how atmospheric CO2 enrichment and N fertilization affects the uptake of silicon (Si) in the Duke Forest, North Carolina, a stand dominated by Pinus taeda (loblolly pine), and five hardwood species. Specifically, we measured foliar biogenic silica concentrations in five deciduous and one coniferous species across three treatments: CO2 enrichment, N enrichment, and N and CO2 enrichment. We found no consistent trends in foliar Si concentration under elevated CO2, N fertilization, or combined elevated CO2 and N fertilization. However, two-thirds of the tree species studied here have Si foliar concentrations greater than well-known Si accumulators, such as grasses. Based on net primary production values and aboveground Si concentrations in these trees, we calculated forest Si uptake rates under control and elevated CO2 concentrations. Due largely to increased primary production, elevated CO2 enhanced the magnitude of Si uptake between 20 and 26%, likely intensifying the terrestrial silica pump. This uptake of Si by forests has important implications for Si export from terrestrial systems, with the potential to impact C sequestration and higher trophic levels in downstream ecosystems.},
doi = {10.3389/fpls.2014.00793},
journal = {Frontiers in Plant Science},
number = ,
volume = 5,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}

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Terrestrial vegetation and the seasonal cycleof dissolved silica in a southern New Englandcoastal river
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Long-term Effects of Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) on Soil Respiration
journal, January 2006


Tree species impact the terrestrial cycle of silicon through various uptakes
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Human activities directly alter watershed dissolved silica fluxes
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Watershed land use alters riverine silica cycling
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Lithologic and climatologic controls of river chemistry
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Effects of elevated CO2 and water stress on mineral concentration of cotton
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Elevated CO 2 reduces the nitrogen concentration of plant tissues
journal, January 1998


Cycling silicon - the role of accumulation in plants: Commentary
journal, May 2003


Increases in nitrogen uptake rather than nitrogen-use efficiency support higher rates of temperate forest productivity under elevated CO2
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Carbon allocation in forest ecosystems
journal, October 2007


Effects of elevated CO 2 on the protein concentration of food crops: a meta-analysis
journal, March 2008


Deforestation causes increased dissolved silicate losses in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest
journal, September 2008


Tansley Review No. 22 What becomes of the transpiration stream?
journal, March 1990


Evaluating ecosystem responses to rising atmospheric CO2 and global warming in a multi-factor world
journal, May 2004


The Structure, Distribution, and Biomass of the World's Forests
journal, November 2013


The World Ocean Silica Cycle
journal, January 2013


Silicon
journal, June 1999


The Terrestrial Silica Pump
journal, December 2012


PROGRESSIVE NITROGEN LIMITATION OF ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES UNDER ELEVATED CO 2 IN A WARM-TEMPERATE FOREST
journal, January 2006

  • Finzi, Adrien C.; Moore, David J. P.; DeLucia, Evan H.
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  • DOI: 10.1890/04-1748

Agricultural silica harvest: have humans created a new loop in the global silica cycle?
journal, June 2012

  • Vandevenne, Floor; Struyf, Eric; Clymans, Wim
  • Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Vol. 10, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1890/110046

Effects of Forest Cutting and Herbicide Treatment on Nutrient Budgets in the Hubbard Brook Watershed-Ecosystem
journal, January 1970

  • Likens, Gene E.; Bormann, F. Herbert; Johnson, Noye M.
  • Ecological Monographs, Vol. 40, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.2307/1942440

Nitrogen enrichment increases net silica accumulation in a temperate salt marsh
journal, November 2012


Anthropogenic impact on amorphous silica pools in temperate soils
journal, January 2011


Works referencing / citing this record:

Plant Uptake Offsets Silica Release From a Large Arctic Tundra Wildfire
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