Biogenic silica accumulation varies across tussock tundra plant functional type

Abstract

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. We quantified biogenic silica (BSi) accumulation in above and below-ground 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 and wet sedge tundra (WST)). Biogenic silica concentrations in live Eriophorum vaginatum, a tussock-forming sedge that is the foundation species of tussock tundra, were not significantly (p