Marine macroalgae are an overlooked sink of silicon in coastal systems
- Publisher:
- Wiley
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- New Phytologist, 2022, 233, (6), pp. 2330-2336
- Issue Date:
- 2022-03-01
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Across the marine landscape, from estuaries to the open ocean, biota take up silicon (Si) as monosilicic acid and deposit it into their tissues as biogenic silica (BSi). Along the coast, vegetated ecosystems, such as salt marshes and mangroves, sequester a significant amount of Si in their tissues and likely help regulate the availability of Si in surrounding waters (Carey & Fulweiler, 2014; Elizondo et al., 2021). Si is also accumulated by sponges, euglyphid amoebae, radiolarians, silicoflagellates, and choanoflagellates, as well as a few coccolithophores, Prasinophyceae, and picocyanobacteria (Raven & Giordano, 2009; Gadd & Raven, 2010; Baines et al., 2012). The dominant driver of coastal (and open ocean) Si cycling, however, is generally thought to be diatoms. These siliceous phytoplankton require Si on a 1 : 1 molar ratio with nitrogen (N). Diatoms are responsible for 40–50% of global marine primary production (Field et al., 1998; Rousseaux & Gregg, 2013) and form the base of the marine food web in many parts of the ocean, especially coastal temperate regions (Irigoien et al., 2002).
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