ROOT SILICIFICATION OF GRASSES AND CROPS FROM THE PAMPEAN REGION AND ITS RELEVANCE TO SILICA AND SILICOPHYTOLITH CONTENT OF SOILS

BENVENUTO MARIA LAURA; PAOLICCHI MICAELA; OSTERRIETH MARGARITA; FERNANDEZ HONAINE MARIANA; BENVENUTO MARIA LAURA; PAOLICCHI MICAELA; OSTERRIETH MARGARITA; FERNANDEZ HONAINE MARIANA

PLANT AND SOIL

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2019 vol. 444 p. 351 - 363

0032-079X

Aims Silicophytoliths contribute to the pool of amorphous silica that is incorporated intothe soils acting as intermediary in the biogeochemical cycle of silicon. Most studiesfocus their attention in the production of aerial parts of plants but not in roots. In orderto advance into the knowledge about the relevance of root amorphous silica in soil Sicycle, we studied the silicophytolith content of roots from grasses and crops, and fromsoil´s roots of different sites from Pampean region, Argentina, one of the most fertileand used for agricultural practices.Methods Roots from three crops and seven grasses and from soils under threedifferent uses were studied. Silicophytoliths were extracted by a calcination technique.Results All the species produced silicophytoliths derived from vascular and/orendodermal tissues. Silicophytolith content was higher in Pampean grasses (6.34-15.38 %) than in crops (0.01-1.58 %). Root silicophytolith content in the pasture was 10times higher than in the other sites.Conclusions The potential input of root silica to soils is related to the type and cover ofvegetation, the amount of roots in soils and the silicophytoliths accumulated in roots.Results suggested that root silicophytoliths should be consider in future studies ofbiogeochemical cycle of Si.