Silicon Effects on Biomass Carbon and Phytolith-Occluded Carbon in Grasslands Under High-Salinity Conditions

Changes in climate and land use are causing grasslands to suffer increasingly fromabiotic stresses, including soil salinization. Silicon (Si) amendment has been frequentlyproposed to improve plant resistance to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses and increaseecosystem productivity while controlling the biogeochemical carbon (C) cycle. However,the effects of Si on plant C distribution and accumulation in salt-suffering grasslandsare still unclear. In this study, we investigated how salt ions affected major elementalcomposition in plants and whether Si enhanced biomass C accumulation in grasslandspecies in situ. In samples from the margins of salt lakes, our results showed that thediffering distance away from the shore resulted in distinctive phytocoenosis, includinghalophytes and moderately salt-tolerant grasses, which are closely related to changingsoil properties. Different salinity (NaC/KC, ranging from 0.02 to 11.8) in plants causednegative effects on plant C content that decreased from 53.9 to 29.2% with theincrease in salinity. Plant Si storage [0.02–2.29 g Si m2 dry weight (dw)] and plantSi content (0.53 to 2.58%) were positively correlated with bioavailable Si in soils(ranging from 94.4 to 192 mg kg1). Although C contents in plants and phytoliths werenegatively correlated with plant Si content, biomass C accumulation (1.90–83.5 g Cm2 dw) increased due to the increase of Si storage in plants. Plant phytolith-occludedcarbon (PhytOC) increased from 0.07 to 0.28h of dry mass with the increase of Sicontent in moderately salt-tolerant grasses. This study demonstrates the potential ofSi in mediating plant salinity and C assimilation, providing a reference for potentialmanipulation of long-term C sequestration via PhytOC production and biomass Caccumulation in Si-accumulator dominated grasslands