PhytoStone: Unravelling the ecological mechanisms driving silicon variation in plants – PhytoStone

The deposits of silica stones in plant tissues (that is, silicification) have long fascinated archaeologists and plant scientists. Important functions have been attributed to silicification in plants, especially in terms of stress resistance, and silicon (Si) is today widely accepted as a key plant beneficial nutrient. Silicon is, however, still considered as an ambiguity in plant biology and remains surrounded by important controversies, especially regarding its tremendous variation among plants (from virtually none to very high concentrations that greatly exceed those of macronutrients). Understanding Si variation by plants is yet mandatory to understand how plants use this nutrient and the influence of vegetation on terrestrial Si biogeochemistry. PhytoStone aims at unraveling the ecological mechanisms driving Si variation in plants by focusing on three key questions, and by harnessing the methodological and theoretical corpus of functional ecology. In particular, PhytoStone will determine (1) the variation in plant Si accumulation between contrasted plant communities and in responses to resources and disturbance over time; (2) the costs and benefits of plant Si accumulation ; (3) the mechanisms underlying Si intraspecific variation with environmental conditions. PhytoStone will focus on grassland ecosystems and non-woody species given their importance on Si cycling, and on two major environmental parameters: soil nutrients and secondary producers. PhytoStone will bring key insights into the ecological mechanisms underlying Si interspecific and intraspecific variation at different scales (from community-scale to cell-scale variation), and will address several controversies surrounding plant Si research.