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  -