Biogenic silica accumulation varies across tussock tundra plant functional type

1. Silica (SiO2) accumulation by terrestrial vegetation is an important component of the biological silica cycle because it improves overall plant fitness and influences export rates of silica from terrestrial to marine systems. However, most research on silica in plants has focused on agricultural and forested ecosystems, and knowledge of terrestrial silica cycling in the Arctic, as well as the potential impacts of climate change on the silica cycle is severely lacking. 2. We quantified biogenic silica (BSi) accumulation in above and belowground portions of three moist acidic tundra (MAT) sites spanning a 300 km latitudinal gradient in central and northern Alaska, USA. We also examined plant silica accumulation across three main tundra types found in the Arctic (MAT, moist non-acidic tundra (MNT), and wet sedge tundra (WST)). 3. BSi concentrations in live Eriophorum vaginatum, a tussock-forming sedge that is the foundation species of tussock tundra, were not significantly (p&lt;0.05) d...1. 陆地植被对二氧化硅（SiO₂）的累积作用是生物硅循环的重要组成部分，其可提升植物整体适合度，并影响二氧化硅从陆地生态系统向海洋生态系统的输出速率。然而，当前针对植物硅的研究多聚焦于农田与森林生态系统，对于北极地区陆地硅循环的认知，以及气候变化对硅循环的潜在影响，均存在严重不足。2. 本研究针对美国阿拉斯加中部与北部沿300公里纬度梯度分布的3处湿酸性苔原（MAT）样地，量化了其地上与地下部分的生物硅（BSi）累积量。同时，本研究还探究了北极地区3种主要苔原类型（湿酸性苔原MAT、湿非酸性苔原MNT与湿生薹草苔原WST）的植物硅累积特征。3. 存活的羊胡子草（Eriophorum vaginatum，一种形成草丘的莎草，亦是丛苔原的建群种）体内的生物硅浓度，在统计学上未达到显著水平（p<0.05）……