Silicon (Si) is a "quasi-essential" element, frequently linked to a reduction in plant stresses from metal toxicity, pests and diseases, drought, and saline stress, for example. Crops are particularly prone to accumulate Si. There is a growing awareness that environmental stressors, toxic, and nutrient-limited situations are generally becoming the norm due to climate change conditions, human exhaustion of natural resources, land degradation, and loss of soil biodiversity. In this context, Si is no longer a quasi-essential element but a critical one, enabling crops to yield more and with better quality with fewer resources.
By finding strategies to help plants cope with limitations and stressful situations, one can improve the yield in situations where it would naturally be lower. Using resources smartly is therefore a key strategy. Si fertilization has already been adopted as an amendment in some cases where soil Si depletion is higher, with benefits for the crops, e.g., reduced accumulation of toxic metals which improves food security, or higher resistance to drought stress which limits irrigation needs, to name just a few.
Understanding the cycle of Si in soils and the processes that this element undergoes in close connection with carbon and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus is crucial to pinpoint the agricultural and soil management practices that better potentiate the accumulation of this element in the crops.
This Research Topic welcomes submissions that address the following goals:
• To describe and characterize processes in the context of agricultural soils that affect different Si pools distribution and concentration; how do agricultural practices affect the Si cycle, especially in this anthropogenic era;
• To understand the link between Si pools and other elements as affected by soil agricultural management;
• To study the effects of macrofauna, mesofauna, and microorganisms on the availability of Si in agricultural soils;
• To characterize the effects of different agricultural management practices on the Silicon-soil cycle and suggest new approaches to maximize Si uptake by crops and their protection.
Silicon (Si) is a "quasi-essential" element, frequently linked to a reduction in plant stresses from metal toxicity, pests and diseases, drought, and saline stress, for example. Crops are particularly prone to accumulate Si. There is a growing awareness that environmental stressors, toxic, and nutrient-limited situations are generally becoming the norm due to climate change conditions, human exhaustion of natural resources, land degradation, and loss of soil biodiversity. In this context, Si is no longer a quasi-essential element but a critical one, enabling crops to yield more and with better quality with fewer resources.
By finding strategies to help plants cope with limitations and stressful situations, one can improve the yield in situations where it would naturally be lower. Using resources smartly is therefore a key strategy. Si fertilization has already been adopted as an amendment in some cases where soil Si depletion is higher, with benefits for the crops, e.g., reduced accumulation of toxic metals which improves food security, or higher resistance to drought stress which limits irrigation needs, to name just a few.
Understanding the cycle of Si in soils and the processes that this element undergoes in close connection with carbon and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus is crucial to pinpoint the agricultural and soil management practices that better potentiate the accumulation of this element in the crops.
This Research Topic welcomes submissions that address the following goals:
• To describe and characterize processes in the context of agricultural soils that affect different Si pools distribution and concentration; how do agricultural practices affect the Si cycle, especially in this anthropogenic era;
• To understand the link between Si pools and other elements as affected by soil agricultural management;
• To study the effects of macrofauna, mesofauna, and microorganisms on the availability of Si in agricultural soils;
• To characterize the effects of different agricultural management practices on the Silicon-soil cycle and suggest new approaches to maximize Si uptake by crops and their protection.
