Soil processes drive the biological silicon feedback loop

Abstract

Summary Soil is the primary source of plant silicon (Si) and therefore a key reservoir of the Si biological cycling. Soil processes control the stock of Si‐bearing minerals and the release of dissolved Si (DSi), hence the Si fluxes at the Earth's surface. Here, we review the interdependent relationship between soil processes and the return of plant Si in soils, and their controls on the biological Si feedback loop. Dissolution and precipitation of soil silicate minerals govern the bioavailability of Si. Plants affect Si biocycling through mineral weathering, root uptake, phytolith formation, return and dissolution in soil. Thus, soil processes and Si biocycling readily interact in soil–plant systems. Rock mineral weathering and soil formation are driven by the five soil‐forming factors: parent rock, climate, topography, age and biota. These factors govern Si fluxes in soil–plant systems since they impact both the mineral weathering rate and fate of DSi. The variability of soil‐forming factors at a global scale explains both the soil diversity and high variability of the rates of Si cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Plants play a crucial role in soil evolution by promoting weathering and forming phytoliths (plant silica bodies). They thus act as Si sinks and sources. With increasing depletion of lithogenic (LSi) and pedogenic (PSi) silicates, the biological Si feedback loop progressively takes over the Si plant uptake from weatherable LSi and PSi minerals. With rising weathering, the soil becomes increasingly concentrated in phytoliths, phytogenic amorphous silicates (PhSi), which are constantly formed in plant and dissolved in soil. Paradoxically, the Si biocycling is thus more intense in soils depleted in primary LSi source. By converting soil LSi and PSi into PhSi, plants increase the mobility of Si in soil and alleviate desilication in the topsoil. Non‐essential plant Si is therefore an essential link between mineral and living worlds. The dynamics of Si in terrestrial ecosystems is thus largely governed by pedogenesis and its relationship with plant community and diversity. Consequently, the appraisal of soil constituents and processes is central to further understand their interaction with the biological Si feedback loop.