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Differences in biomass and silica content in typical plant communities with ecotones in the Min River estuary of southeast China

Silica (Si) is a basic nutrient requirement for many aquatic organisms and its biogeochemical cycle plays an important role in estuarine coastal ecosystems. However, little is known about the role Si plays during plant–plant interactive processes in the marsh ecosystems. Here, variations in biomass,...

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Autores principales: Gao, Hui, Zhai, Shuijing, Sun, Zhigao, Liu, Juan, Tong, Chuan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6657677/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31367481
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7218
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author Gao, Hui
Zhai, Shuijing
Sun, Zhigao
Liu, Juan
Tong, Chuan
author_facet Gao, Hui
Zhai, Shuijing
Sun, Zhigao
Liu, Juan
Tong, Chuan
author_sort Gao, Hui
collection PubMed
description Silica (Si) is a basic nutrient requirement for many aquatic organisms and its biogeochemical cycle plays an important role in estuarine coastal ecosystems. However, little is known about the role Si plays during plant–plant interactive processes in the marsh ecosystems. Here, variations in biomass, biogenic silica (BSi) content, and available Si content of Cyperus malaccensis-dominated marshes, Phragmites australis-dominated marshes, and their ecotonal marshes were studied in the Shanyutan marsh in the Min River estuary, China. Results showed that C. malaccensis and P. australis biomass in ecotones was lower than those in typical communities by 46.4% and 46.3%, respectively. BSi content in aboveground organs of C. malaccensis and culms and roots of P. australis was lower in ecotones than in typical communities, whereas BSi content in other organs showed the opposite trend. Biomass allocation in C. malaccensis and P. australis roots in ecotones was higher by 56.9% and 19.5%, respectively, and BSi stock in C. malaccensis and P. australis roots was higher than that in typical communities by 120.9% and 18.9%, respectively. Available Si content in ecotonal marsh soils was 12.6% greater than that in typical communities. Thus, the two plant species may use different strategies for Si accumulation and allocation in ecotones to adapt to the competitive environment. P. australis may expand primarily via occupation of wider aboveground space, thereby increasing the Si accumulation capacity in aboveground organs. Meanwhile, C. malaccensis may increase the Si allocation capacity of its roots to withstand the pressure from P. australis. This study will provide new insights into marsh plant competition from the perspective of Si, which can also benefit plant management in marsh ecosystems.
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spelling pubmed-66576772019-07-31 Differences in biomass and silica content in typical plant communities with ecotones in the Min River estuary of southeast China Gao, Hui Zhai, Shuijing Sun, Zhigao Liu, Juan Tong, Chuan PeerJ Soil Science Silica (Si) is a basic nutrient requirement for many aquatic organisms and its biogeochemical cycle plays an important role in estuarine coastal ecosystems. However, little is known about the role Si plays during plant–plant interactive processes in the marsh ecosystems. Here, variations in biomass, biogenic silica (BSi) content, and available Si content of Cyperus malaccensis-dominated marshes, Phragmites australis-dominated marshes, and their ecotonal marshes were studied in the Shanyutan marsh in the Min River estuary, China. Results showed that C. malaccensis and P. australis biomass in ecotones was lower than those in typical communities by 46.4% and 46.3%, respectively. BSi content in aboveground organs of C. malaccensis and culms and roots of P. australis was lower in ecotones than in typical communities, whereas BSi content in other organs showed the opposite trend. Biomass allocation in C. malaccensis and P. australis roots in ecotones was higher by 56.9% and 19.5%, respectively, and BSi stock in C. malaccensis and P. australis roots was higher than that in typical communities by 120.9% and 18.9%, respectively. Available Si content in ecotonal marsh soils was 12.6% greater than that in typical communities. Thus, the two plant species may use different strategies for Si accumulation and allocation in ecotones to adapt to the competitive environment. P. australis may expand primarily via occupation of wider aboveground space, thereby increasing the Si accumulation capacity in aboveground organs. Meanwhile, C. malaccensis may increase the Si allocation capacity of its roots to withstand the pressure from P. australis. This study will provide new insights into marsh plant competition from the perspective of Si, which can also benefit plant management in marsh ecosystems. PeerJ Inc. 2019-07-22 /pmc/articles/PMC6657677/ /pubmed/31367481 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7218 Text en © 2019 Gao et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Soil Science
Gao, Hui
Zhai, Shuijing
Sun, Zhigao
Liu, Juan
Tong, Chuan
Differences in biomass and silica content in typical plant communities with ecotones in the Min River estuary of southeast China
title Differences in biomass and silica content in typical plant communities with ecotones in the Min River estuary of southeast China
title_full Differences in biomass and silica content in typical plant communities with ecotones in the Min River estuary of southeast China
title_fullStr Differences in biomass and silica content in typical plant communities with ecotones in the Min River estuary of southeast China
title_full_unstemmed Differences in biomass and silica content in typical plant communities with ecotones in the Min River estuary of southeast China
title_short Differences in biomass and silica content in typical plant communities with ecotones in the Min River estuary of southeast China
title_sort differences in biomass and silica content in typical plant communities with ecotones in the min river estuary of southeast china
topic Soil Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6657677/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31367481
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7218
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