Terrestrial ecosystem Si budgets, past and present

Estimates of silicon (Si) pools and fluxes in diverse extant ecosystems have been published, including for grasslands, and deciduous and evergreen forests.  These illustrate diversity in dominant pools of biogenic Si in soils versus living biomass, reflecting the vegetation type and variation in Si accumulation of plant groups. This presentation will explore potential to estimate Si pools and fluxes for a selection of past environments, based on the species recorded in fossil records teamed with Si accumulation data from extant relatives. Where possible, changes over time will also be considered incluing impacts of vegetation on weathering and other envrionmental feedbacks.