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Occluded C in rice phytoliths: implications to biogeochemical carbon sequestration

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Abstract

Aims

Carbon (C) bio-sequestration within the phytoliths of plants, a mechanism of long-term biogeochemical C sequestration, may play a major role in the global C cycle and climate change. In this study, we explored the potential of C bio-sequestration within phytoliths produced in cultivated rice (Oryza sativa), a well known silicon accumulator.

Methods

The rice phytolith extraction was undertaken with microwave digestion procedures and the determination of occluded C in phytoliths was based on dissolution methods of phytolith-Si.

Results

Chemical analysis indicates that the phytolith-occluded C (PhytOC) contents of the different organs (leaf, stem, sheath and grains) on a dry weight basis in 5 rice cultivars range from 0.4 mg g−1 to 2.8 mg g−1, and the C content of phytoliths from grains is much lower than that of leaf, stem and sheath. The data also show that the PhytOC content of rice depends on both the content of phytoliths and the efficiency of C occlusion within phytoliths during rice growth. The biogeochemical C sequestration flux of phytoliths in 5 rice cultivars is approximately 0.03–0.13 Mg of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents (Mg-e-CO2) ha−1 year−1. From 1950 to 2010, about 2.37 × 108 Mg of CO2 equivalents might have been sequestrated within the rice phytoliths in China. Assuming a maximum phytoliths C bio-sequestration flux of 0.13 Mg-e-CO2 ha−1 year−1, the global annual potential rate of CO2 sequestrated in rice phytoliths would approximately be 1.94 × 107 Mg.

Conclusions

Therefore rice crops may play a significant role in long-term C sequestration through the formation of PhytOC.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41103042), Zhejiang Province Key Science and Technology Innovation Team (NO.2010R50030), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation Program (Grant No. Y5080110 and Z5080203), Opening Project of State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry (SKLEG9011), Opening Project of Ministry of Education Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Peking University. We thank Pr. Dr. Zhihong Cao and Miss Fang Huang for their help in sampling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang A & F University, No. 88 North Huancheng Road, Lin’an, Zhejiang, 311300, China

    Zimin Li, Zhaoliang Song & Hailong Wang

  2. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycling in Forest Ecosystems and Carbon Sequestration, Zhejiang A & F University, Lin’an, Zhejiang, 311300, China

    Zhaoliang Song & Hailong Wang

  3. Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Ministry of Education, Peking, 100871, China

    Zhaoliang Song

  4. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Peking, 100871, China

    Zhaoliang Song

  5. Southern Cross GeoScience, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia

    Jeffrey F. Parr

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  1. Zimin Li
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Correspondence to Zhaoliang Song.

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Li, Z., Song, Z., Parr, J.F. et al. Occluded C in rice phytoliths: implications to biogeochemical carbon sequestration. Plant Soil 370, 615–623 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1661-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1661-9

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