Silicon distribution in bamboo stands of different ecotypes

To prov ide scientific references for understanding the role of phytoliths in biogeochemical carbon sequestration, organs(leaf, branch, culm, stump, root, and rhizome) of ten representative bamboo species belonging to three bamboo ecotypes(mix, scatter, and cluster) were sampled at the Jiyong Plantation Experimental Site at Zhejiang A F University. The biological Si cycle in bamboo ecosystems was studied based on the above-ground biomass production and silica accumulations in bamboo organs. Results showed that the Si content of the organs in different bamboo species significantly ranged from 1.77 g·kg-1to 63.10 g·kg-1with leaf branch stump root rhizome culm(P 0.01). For the three bamboo ecotypes, Si distribution was mixed scattered clustered; additionally, mean Si storage and fluxes of Si for bamboo ecotypes were mixed scattered clustered. Based on the analytic results of this study, we find that the mean flux for phytolith carbon sequestration in bamboo ecotypes was scattered mixed clustered.Furthermore, for China the rate of phytolith carbon sequestration in scattered bamboo was 5.46 times greater than clustered bamboo and 35.7 times greater than mixed bamboo. Thus, this study highlights that increasing the area of bamboo planting and electing a scattered bamboo ecotype characterized by bamboo species with high carbon content in phytoliths would increase atmospheric CO2 sequestration. However, further research should be systematically carried out to identify silicon and carbon cycles in national and global soil-bamboo systems.