TY - JOUR A1 - Funk, Roger A1 - Busse, Jaqueline A1 - Siegmund, Nicole A1 - Sommer, Michael A1 - Iturri, Laura Antonela A1 - Panebianco, Juan E. A1 - Avecilla, Fernando A1 - Buschiazzo, Daniel T1 - Phytoliths in particulate matter released by wind erosion on arable land in La Pampa, Argentina JF - Frontiers in environmental science N2 - Silicon (Si) is considered a beneficial element in plant nutrition, but its importance on ecosystems goes far beyond that. Various forms of silicon are found in soils, of which the phytogenic pool plays a decisive role due to its good availability. This Si returns to the soil through the decomposition of plant residues, where they then participate in the further cycle as biogenic amorphous silica (bASi) or so-called phytoliths. These have a high affinity for water, so that the water holding capacity and water availability of soils can be increased even by small amounts of ASi. Agricultural land is a considerable global dust source, and dust samples from arable land have shown in cloud formation experiments a several times higher ice nucleation activity than pure mineral dust. Here, particle sizes in the particulate matter fractions (PM) are important, which can travel long distances and reach high altitudes in the atmosphere. Based on this, the research question was whether phytoliths could be detected in PM samples from wind erosion events, what are the main particle sizes of phytoliths and whether an initial quantification was possible.Measurements of PM concentrations were carried out at a wind erosion measuring field in the province La Pampa, Argentina. PM were sampled during five erosion events with Environmental Dust Monitors (EDM). After counting and classifying all particles with diameters between 0.3 and 32 mu m in the EDMs, they are collected on filters. The filters were analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis (SEM-EDX) to investigate single or ensembles of particles regarding composition and possible origins.The analyses showed up to 8.3 per cent being phytoliths in the emitted dust and up to 25 per cent of organic origin. Particles of organic origin are mostly in the coarse dust fraction, whereas phytoliths are predominately transported in the finer dust fractions. Since phytoliths are both an important source of Si as a plant nutrient and are also involved in soil C fixation, their losses from arable land via dust emissions should be considered and its specific influence on atmospheric processes should be studied in detail in the future. KW - dust KW - dust composition KW - particulate matter KW - scanning electron microscope KW - (SEM) analysis KW - phytolith Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.969898 SN - 2296-665X VL - 10 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nguyen, Minh N. A1 - Meharg, Andy A. A1 - Carey, Manus A1 - Dultz, Stefan A1 - Marone, Federica A1 - Cichy, Sarah Bettina A1 - Tran, Chinh T. A1 - Le, Giang H. A1 - Mai, Nga T. A1 - Nguyen, Thinh T. H. T1 - Fern, Dicranopteris linearis, derived phytoliths in soil BT - Morphotypes, solubility and content in relation to soil properties JF - European journal of soil science N2 - Ferns are among the most popular groups of plants in the tropics and subtropics, and their role as carbon sequestrators has been widely recognized. However, there is little understanding of the silicaceous structures (phytoliths) of ferns, rate of phytolith turnover, the consequences for organic matter sequestered in phytoliths and consequences for other soil properties. In the study reported here, high-resolution X-ray tomographic microscopy and chemical characterization were applied to examine the traits of phytoliths of the fern Dicranopteris linearis (Burm.f.) Underw. (D. linearis), with a focus on their dissolution properties and accumulation in northern Vietnamese soils in relation to soil properties. Tomographic images revealed an inter-embedding structure of silica and organic matter, especially in leaf-derived material. We propose that organic matter and silica can preserve each other against decomposition. In batch experiments, there was a relatively small rate of dissolution of phytoliths with dry ashing and subsequent H2O2 treatment. Silicon (Si) dissolution for D. linearis phytolith samples was much less than that for rice phytoliths. Despite the fact that the aluminum (Al) content was large in D. linearis leaves, batch dissolution data did not confirm a relation between Al and the slow rate of phytolith dissolution. The soil phytolith content varied from 0.9 to 7.5 g kg(-1) in the topsoil across the mountainous areas in northern Vietnam, whereas it tended to be smaller in the subsoil. The data indicate a relation between phytolith and soil organic matter, clay content, oxalate-soluble Al and electrical conductivity, suggesting that these soil properties are among the important factors affecting the size of the soil phytolith Si pool. Highlights KW - accumulation in soils KW - dissolution properties KW - phytolith KW - silicon Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12754 SN - 1351-0754 SN - 1365-2389 VL - 70 IS - 3 SP - 507 EP - 517 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Frick, Daniel Alexander A1 - Schüßler, Jan Arne A1 - Sommer, Michael A1 - von Blanckenburg, Friedhelm T1 - Laser Ablation In Situ Silicon Stable Isotope Analysis of Phytoliths JF - Geostandards and geoanalytical research N2 - Silicon is a beneficial element for many plants and is deposited in plant tissue as amorphous bio-opal called phytoliths. The biochemical processes of silicon uptake and precipitation induce isotope fractionation: the mass-dependent shift in the relative abundances of the stable isotopes of silicon. At the bulk scale, delta Si-30 ratios span from -2 to +6 parts per thousand. To further constrain these variations in situ, at the scale of individual phytolith fragments, we used femtosecond laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (fsLA-MC-ICP-MS). A variety of phytoliths from grasses, trees and ferns were prepared from plant tissue or extracted from soil. Good agreement between phytolith delta Si-30 ratios obtained by bulk solution MC-ICP-MS analysis and in situ isotope ratios from fsLA-MC-ICP-MS validates the method. Bulk solution analyses result in at least twofold better precision for delta Si-30 (2s on reference materials <= 0.11 parts per thousand) over that found for the means of in situ analyses (2s typically <= 0.24 parts per thousand). We find that bushgrass, common reed and horsetail show large internal variations up to 2 parts per thousand in delta Si-30, reflecting the various pathways of silicon from soil to deposition. Femtosecond laser ablation provides a means to identify the underlying processes involved in the formation of phytoliths using silicon isotope ratios. KW - In situ silicon isotope ratio analysis KW - phytolith KW - laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry KW - biogenic silica Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ggr.12243 SN - 1639-4488 SN - 1751-908X VL - 43 IS - 1 SP - 77 EP - 91 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tran, C. T. A1 - Mai, N. T. A1 - Nguyen, V. T. A1 - Nguyen, H. X. A1 - Meharg, A. A1 - Carey, M. A1 - Dultz, S. A1 - Marone, F. A1 - Cichy, Sarah Bettina A1 - Nguyen, Minh N. T1 - Phytolith-associated potassium in fern BT - characterization, dissolution properties and implications for slash-and-burn agriculture JF - Soil use and Management N2 - In recent time, phytoliths (silicon deposition between plant cells) have been recognized as an important nutrient source for crops. The work presented here aims at highlighting the potential of phytolith-occluded K pool in ferns. Dicranopteris linearis (D.linearis) is a common fern in the humid subtropical and tropical regions. Burning of the fern D.linearis is, in slash-and-burn regions, a common practice to prepare the soil before planting. We characterised the phytolith-rich ash derived from the fern D.linearis and phytolith-associated potassium (K) (phytK), using X-ray tomographic microscopy in combination with kinetic batch experiments. D.linearis contains up to 3.9g K/kgd.wt, including K subcompartmented in phytoliths. X-ray tomographic microscopy visualized an interembedding structure between organic matter and silica, particularly in leaves. Corelease of K and Si observed in the batch experiments confirmed that the dissolution of ash phytoliths is one of major factors controlling K release. Under heat treatment, a part of the K is made available, while the remainder entrapped into phytoliths (ca. 2.0-3.3%) is unavailable until the phytoliths are dissolved. By enhanced removal of organic phases, or forming more stable silica phases, heat treatment changes dissolution properties of the phytoliths, affecting K release for crops and soils. The maximum releases of soluble K and Si were observed for the phytoliths treated at 500-800 degrees C. For quantitative approaches for the K provision of plants from the soil phytK pool in soils, factors regulating phytolith dissolution rate have to be considered. KW - Potassium KW - phytolith KW - fern KW - Dicranopteris linearis Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.12409 SN - 0266-0032 SN - 1475-2743 VL - 34 IS - 1 SP - 28 EP - 36 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER -