COVER Poly(lactic acid) and other aliphatic polyesters containing lactic acid are biodegradable and

have been widely used in tissue engineering and drug delivery systems. While lactic acid degradation
products are thought to have negative effects on biocompatibility, only a few experimental studies
have investigated the effects. In this study, in vitro cytotoxicities of L-lactic acid and D,L-lactic acid on
mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from bone marrow were examined. The cover illustrates the
chemical structures of L- and D-lactic acids on a background of a fluorescence micrograph of MSCs (cells
stained in green). The yellow ball denotes the chiral carbon atom; the gray, red and white balls represent
the common carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms, respectively. No significant negative effects of L-lactic
acid and D,L-lactic acid on cell viability and osteogenic differentiation were observed at lactic acid
concentrations of 20 mmol/L (see the article by HE Yao et al. on page 2404).

Volume 58 Number 20
July 2013

Journal Ownership by Science China Press; Copyright of Articles: © The Author(s) 2013

Journal’s Policy for Open Access

All articles published in the journal Chinese Science Bulletin are subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/).
Publishing an article with open access leaves the copyright with the author and allows user to read, copy, distribute and make
derivative works from the material, as long as the author of the original work is cited.
Submission of a manuscript implies: that the work described has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or
as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that its publication has
been approved by all co-authors; if any, as well as – tacitly or explicitly – by the responsible authorities at the institution where the
work has carried out.
The author warrants that his/her contribution is original and that he/she has full power to make this grant. The author signs for
and accepts responsibility for releasing this material on behalf of any and all co-authors.
The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc., in this publication, even if not specifically identified, does
not imply that these names are not protected by the relevant laws and regulations.
While the advice and information in this journal are believed to be true and accurate at the date of its going to press, the authors,
the editors, and the publishers cannot accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publishers
assume no liability, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

Copyright and License Agreement

For copyright regulations and license agreement, please go to www.springeropen.com/about/copyright

Abstracted/indexed in:
Academic Search Alumni Edition EMBio
Academic Search Complete Environmental Engineering Abstracts
Academic Search Elite Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management
Academic Search Premier Google Scholar
ASFA 1: Biological Sciences and Living Resources Inspec
ASFA 2: Ocean Technology, Policy and Non-Living Resources Mathematical Reviews
Biological Abstracts MathSciNet
Biological Sciences Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts
BIOSIS Previews Pollution Abstracts
CAB Abstracts Science Citation Index
Chemical Abstracts SCOPUS
Chemical and Earth Sciences Water Resources Abstracts
Current Contents/Physical Zentralblatt MATH
Current Mathematical Publications Zoological Record
Digital Mathematics Registry
 Volume 58 Number 20 July 2013 CONTENTS

Progress of Projects Supported by NSFC

REVIEW
Geography
2395 Sandy desertification: Borne on the wind
WANG XunMing

ARTICLE
Materials Science
2404 Effects of L-lactic acid and D,L-lactic acid on viability and osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells
HE Yao, WANG WeiRan & DING JianDong

ARTICLES
Condensed Matter Physics
2413 Experimental demonstrations of high-Q superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators
LI HaiJie, WANG YiWen, WEI LianFu, ZHOU PinJia, WEI Qiang, CAO ChunHai, FANG YuRong, YU Yang & WU PeiHeng

Optics
2418 Slow light between two absorbing resonance in asymmetry double quantum dots
YU ChunChao & WANG Tao

Quantum Information
2423 Stationary entanglement of two atoms in a common reservoir
MAN ZhongXiao, SU Fang & XIA YunJie

Analytical Chemistry
2430 Crystal structure determination of three polycyclic compounds and comparative Rietveld refinement between MS and
GSAS programs
WU XiaoQing, TANG PeiXiao, PAN QingQing, CHENG Qiang & LI Hui

Physical Chemistry
2435 The preparation and performance of high activity Ni-Cr binary catalysts for direct borohydride fuel cells
YU DanMei, SHEN Yan, YE Zhen, WEN JiaZhi, WANG Jie & CHEN ChangGuo

2440 Measurement of aerosol optical extinction using diode laser cavity ringdown spectroscopy
LIU YingDi & ZHANG JingSong

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

2447 A new long-acting GLP-1 derivative KTP ameliorates hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia and improves pancreas and fatty
liver in db/db mice
SANG YanXia, ZHOU TianHong, LI HongJian, RAN YanHong, JIANG DeQi, ZHENG Fei, CHEN Ying, WANG CongFeng &
ZOU Xin

Biomedical Engineering
2454 Three-dimensional FEM analysis of stress distribution in dynamic maxillary canine movement
JING Yan, HAN XiangLong, CHENG BiHuan & BAI Ding

Agricultural Sciences
2460 Digestive stability and acute toxicity studies of exogenous protein in transgenic rice expressing lysine-rich fusion
proteins
ZHAO XiangXiang, HU XiaoLan, TANG Tang, LU ChangLi, LIU FuXia, JI LiLian & LIU QiaoQuan

Geophysics
2469 Comparison between magnetic coplanarity and MVA methods in determining the normal of Venusian bow shock
SHAN LiCan, LU QuanMing, ZHANG TieLong, GAO XinLiang, HUANG Can, SU YanQing & WANG Shui

Geochemistry
2473 In-situ cosmogenic 36Cl denudation rates of carbonates in Guizhou karst area
XU Sheng, LIU CongQiang, FREEMAN Stewart, LANG YunChao, SCHNABEL Christoph, TU ChengLong, WILCKEN Klaus &
ZHAO ZhiQi

www.scichina.com | csb.scichina.com | www.springer.com/scp | www.springerlink.com i

 CONTENTS

2480 Biogeochemical sequestration of carbon within phytoliths of wetland plants: A case study of Xixi wetland, China
LI ZiMin, SONG ZhaoLiang & JIANG PeiKun

Geography
2488 Sources and migration path of chemical compositions in a karst groundwater system during rainfall events
YANG PingHeng, YUAN DaoXian, YE XuChun, XIE ShiYou, CHEN XueBin & LIU ZiQi

Atmospheric Science
2497 Spatial and temporal distribution of MODIS and MISR aerosol optical depth over northern China and comparison with
AERONET
QI YuLei, GE JinMing & HUANG JianPing

Materials Science
2507 Deformation mechanism and microstructures on polycrystalline aluminum induced by high-current pulsed electron beam
CAI Jie, JI Le, YANG ShengZhi, WANG XiaoTong, LI Yan, HOU XiuLi & GUAN QingFeng

Cybernetics
2512 Decoding grasp movement from monkey premotor cortex for real-time prosthetic hand control
HAO YaoYao, ZHANG QiaoSheng, ZHANG ShaoMin, ZHAO Ting, WANG YiWen, CHEN WeiDong & ZHENG XiaoXiang

Vol. 58 No. 20 July 15, 2013 (Published three times every month)

Supervised by Chinese Academy of Sciences

Sponsored by Chinese Academy of Sciences and National Natural Science Foundation of China
Published by Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Subscriptions
China Science China Press, 16 Donghuangchenggen North Street, Beijing 100717, China
Email: sales@scichina.org Fax: 86-10-64016350
North and South America Springer New York, Inc., Journal Fulfillment, P.O. Box 2485, Secaucus, NJ 07096 USA
Email: journals-ny@springer.com Fax: 1-201-348-4505
Outside North and South America Springer Customer Service Center, Customer Service Journals, Haberstr. 7, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany
Email: subscriptions@springer.com Fax: 49-6221-345-4229
Printed by Beijing Artownprinting Co., Ltd., Chuangyeyuan Road, Taihu Town, Tongzhou District, Beijing 101116, China
Edited by Editorial Board of Chinese Science Bulletin, 16 Donghuangchenggen North Street, Beijing 100717, China
Editor-in-Chief XIA JianBai

CN 11-1785/N 邮发代号: 80-214 (英)

广告经营许可证: 京东工商广字第0429号 国内每期定价: 116元

ii www.scichina.com | csb.scichina.com | www.springer.com/scp | www.springerlink.com

Article
Geochemistry July 2013 Vol.58 No.20: 24802487
doi: 10.1007/s11434-013-5785-3

Biogeochemical sequestration of carbon within phytoliths of wetland

plants: A case study of Xixi wetland, China
LI ZiMin1, SONG ZhaoLiang1,2,3,4* & JIANG PeiKun1,2
1
School of Environment and Resources, Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University, Lin’an 311300, China;
2
Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycling in Forest Ecosystems and Carbon Sequestration, Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry
University, Lin’an 311300, China;
3
Laboratories for Earth Surface Processes, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100871, China;
4
College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Received November 9, 2012; accepted January 30, 2013; published online April 10, 2013

As an important long-term terrestrial carbon sequestration mechanism, biogeochemical sequestration of carbon within phytoliths
may play a significant role in the global carbon cycle and climate change. The aim of this study is to explore the potential of car-
bon bio-sequestration within phytoliths produced by wetland plants. The results show that the occluded carbon content of phyto-
liths in wetland plants ranges from 0.49% to 3.97%, with a CV (coefficient of variation) value of 810%. The data also indicate
that the phytolith-occluded carbon (PhytOC) content of biomass for wetland plants depends not only on the phytolith content of
biomass, but also the efficiency of carbon occlusion within phytoliths during plant growth in herb-dominated fens. The fluxes of
carbon bio-sequestration within phytoliths of herb-dominated fen plants range from 0.003 to 0.077 t CO2 equivalents t-e-CO2
ha−1 a−1. In China, 0.04×106 to 1.05×106 t CO2 equivalents per year may be sequestrated in phytoliths of herbaceous-dominated
fen plants. Globally, taking a fen area of 1.48×108 ha and the largest phytolith carbon biosequestration flux (0.077 t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1)
for herb-dominated fen plants, about 1.14×107 t CO2 equivalents per year would have been sequestrated in phytoliths of fen plants.
If other wetland plants have similar PhytOC production flux with herb-dominated fen plants (0.077 t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1), about
4.39×107 t-e-CO2 a−1 may be sequestrated in the phytoliths of world wetland plants. The data indicate that the management of
wetland ecosystems (e.g. selection of plant species) to maximize the production of PhytOC have the potential to bio-sequestrate
considerable quantities of atmospheric CO2.

carbon sequestration, fen plants, wetland, phytolith occluded carbon (PhytOC), China

Citation: Li Z M, Song Z L, Jiang P K. Biogeochemical sequestration of carbon within phytoliths of wetland plants: A case study of Xixi wetland, China. Chin Sci
Bull, 2013, 58: 24802487, doi: 10.1007/s11434-013-5785-3

The global concentration of atmospheric CO2 has increased
significantly from ~280 to 391 ppmv since 1750 as a result
of human activities such as fossil fuel combustion, defor-
estation, biomass burning and land use change [1]. As glob-
al increase of atmospheric CO2 concentration may cause
dangerous climate change [2], various approaches that can
securely reduce and sequestrate carbon emissions are being
pursued, and among the most promising is the terrestrial
biogeochemical carbon sequestration [2,3].
One relatively stable form of organic carbon that is bio-
*Corresponding author (email: songzhaoliang78@163.com)
geochemically sequestrated within the silica biomineralisa-
tion features of terrestrial plants and that can accumulate in
soil after the decomposition of that vegetation is the phyto-
lith occluded carbon (PhytOC) fraction [4]. The PhytOC is
more stable and can sustain much longer than other organic
carbon fractions in the soil because of its strong ability to
resist decomposition [4–9]. For example, it has been re-
ported that PhytOC in soil and sediments ranges in age from
0 to 8000 a BP [4]. One previous work found that PhytOC
remained in soil for 13300 ± 450 a BP [10]. As an important
part of terrestrial carbon, it can reach 82% of total carbon in
some soil and sediments after 2000 years of litter leaf de-

© The Author(s) 2013. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com csb.scichina.com www.springer.com/scp
 Li Z M, et al.
composition [4].
Phytoliths have great potential to sequestrate atmospheric
CO2 through the formation of PhytOC [11–15], and play a
crucial function in the long-term terrestrial carbon cycle [3,
4] and climate change [16–18]. The fluxes of millet, wheat
and sugarcane for phytolith carbon bio-sequestration range
up to 0.038 [14], 0.246 [13] and 0.36 t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1 [11],
respectively. In particular, the flux of carbon occluded
within phytoliths of bamboo ranges up to 0.709 t-e-CO2
ha−1 a−1, and current global bamboo forests (22 million ha)
can securely sequestrate 1.56×107 t of atmospheric CO2 per
year. Researchers have suggested that if all potentially ara-
ble land (4.1 billion ha) is exploited to grow bamboo or
other similar grass crops, the global potential of phytolith
carbon bio-sequestration would approximately be 1.5 billion
t-e-CO2 a−1 equivalent to 11% of the current increase in
atmospheric CO2 [12]. The data indicate that the manage-
ment of plants with high PhytOC content to maximize bio-
mass production could adequately improve the secure ter-
restrial carbon sequestration [12,13]. However, current es-
timation of global phytolith carbon bio-sequestration poten-
tial by Parr et al. [12] is based on a very small dataset. Un-
der realistic conditions, much more work should be done
before the strategy of PhytOC enhancement can be applied
to sequestrate globally significant amounts of CO2.
The widespread wetland ecosystem with fast plant
growth and high biomass is an important terrestrial carbon
sink, and plays an important role in global carbon cycle
[19–21] and global climate change [22–24]. As one of the
important constituents of terrestrial ecosystems, wetlands
store 15% of the total terrestrial carbon though it occupies
only about 1% of the terrestrial surface [25]. Furthermore,
the wetlands are mainly dominated by Poaceae, which are
known to be proficient silica accumulators [26–29]. How-
ever, to our best knowledge, the potential of wetland phyto-
liths in the long-term biogeochemical sequestration of at-
mospheric CO2 has not been quantified globally and even
regionally. The main purpose of this study is to examine the
Figure 1 The location of Xixi wetland and sampling site.
Chin Sci Bull July (2013) Vol.58 No.20 2481
rates of silica accumulation and carbon bio-sequestration
within the phytoliths of wetland plants.
1 Materials and methods
1.1 Collection of wetland plant materials
The Xixi wetland (30°3′35″–30°21′28″N, 120°0′26″–
120°9′27″E), a rare urban natural wetland with an area of
10.64 square kilometers, is located in the west part of
Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China (Figure 1) [30,31]. It
has rich ecological resources and simple natural landscapes
densely crisscrossed with scattered ponds, lakes and
swamps [32]. The site has a subtropical humid monsoon
climate with an average annual precipitation of 1400 mm,
an annual mean temperature of 16.2°C. The site is com-
posed of paddy soil, boggy soil, and deposited soil [33].
The entire Xixi wetland is mainly dominated by herba-
ceous plants (Triarrhena sacchariflora, Phragmites austra-
lis, Cortaderia selloana, Arundo donax, Phyllostachys pro-
pinqua, Cyperus alternifolius, Arthraxon hispidus, etc.).
Some trees (Salix spp, Melia azedarach, Broussonetia pa-
pyrifera, Morus, etc.) and shrubs (Clerodendrum trichoto-
mum, Lonicera japonica, Rosa multiflora, etc.) are growing
around the edges of the river base [34]. According to the
classification system of Scott and Jones [35], the Xixi wet-
land is classified as fen [36–38].
In this study, three replicates of the 18 plant species be-
longing to different growth types (riparian plants, shallow
water emergent plants and floating-leaf aquatics) (Figure 1
and Table 1) were randomly sampled at different sites of
Xixi wetland to determine the variations of phytolith accu-
mulation and to examine the global phytolith carbon bio-
sequestration potential in wetland ecosystem. All collected
plants were the herbaceous species that have large above-
ground net primary productivity (ANPP) in Xixi wetland.
They were collected at maturity in October, 2011, to ensure
valid comparison and to obtain maximum flux of phytolith
2482 Li Z M, et al. Chin Sci Bull July (2013) Vol.58 No.20

accumulation [39–41]. [12–15,44,45]. Based on the methods of Kroger et al. [46],

1.2 Determination of Phytolith and PhytOC contents
The root of the collected plants was discarded and the rest
of the samples such as the stem, leaf, and spike were placed
in an ultrasonic bath for 15 min, rinsed three times with
ultrapure water, dried at 75°C for 48 h, and then cut into
small pieces (<5 mm). The phytolith samples were extracted
by microwave digestion procedures [42]. This process was
followed by a Walkley-Black type digest to thoroughly re-
move extraneous organic materials in the samples [12,43].
The possible extraneous organic materials outside of the
phytolith cells were examined with 0.8 mol/L potassium
dichromate. If the color of solution did not change within 5
min, it showed that the extraneous organic materials outside
of the phytoliths were thoroughly removed. The phytoliths
extracted were oven-dried at 75°C for 24 h in a centrifuge
tube of known weight. The samples were allowed to cool
and then weighed to obtain the phytolith quantities. The
extracted phytolith samples were checked with an optical
microscope (Olympus CX31, Japan) to ensure that all ex-
traneous organic materials were thoroughly removed
the dried phytolith samples were treated with 1 mol/L HF at
55°C for 60 min to dissolve phytolith-Si. The organic car-
bon released from phytoliths after HF treatment was dried at
45°C and determined for carbon content using the classical
potassium dichromate method [47]. The organic carbon data
was monitored with standard soil samples of GBW07405.
The precision is better than 7%.
2 Results
As Table 1 shows, the phytolith content of biomass has a
significant variation (1.01%–7.69%) among the 18 plant
species. The phytolith contents of biomass for riparian
plants (2.32%–7.56%, average 4.88%) and shallow-water
emergent plants (1.01%–7.69%, average 4.14%) are higher
than that (1.88%–2.11%, average 2.00%) for floating-leaf
aquatics. The occluded carbon contents of phytoliths from
riparian plants (0.49%–3.94%, average 1.59%) and shallow-
water emergent plants (1.10%–2.33%, average 1.56%)
are also higher than that (0.91%–1.94%, average 1.42%)
from floating-leaf aquatics (Table 1). There are substantial

Table 1 The content and production of phytoliths and PhytOC together with biomass in 18 plants

The occluded PhytOC content

The phytolith Estimated PhytOC
carbon content of biomass (dry Biomass
Growth types Plants species content fluxes
of phytoliths weight) (t-ha−1 a−1) (Max)
mean (s. d) (%) (kg-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1)
mean (s. d) (%) mean (s. d) (%)
Riparian Leersia sayanuka Ohwi 5.29 (1.64) 2.66 (1.75) 0.14 (0.114) 0.076–0.745 0.080 [48]
plants
Setaria viridis 7.56 (0.23) 0.87 (0.50) 0.07 (0.040) 0.012–0.043 0.011 [49]
Eleusine indica 4.11 (0.07) 1.50 (0.11) 0.06 (0.005) 0.365–0.432 1.181 [50]
Digitaria ternata 6.88 (0.17) 1.06 (0.08) 0.07 (0.007) 0.462–0.565 0.200 [51]
Arthraxon lanceolatus 5.51 (0.27) 2.91 (0.77) 0.16 (0.050) 12.342–23.562 3.060 [52]
Arthraxon hispidus 3.40 (0.52) 3.97 (0.11) 0.13(0.024) 11.893–17.279 3.060 [52]
Cynodon dactylon 6.35 (0.27) 0.64 (0.03) 0.04 (0.003) 15.602–18.132 11.500 [53]
Trifolium incarnatum 2.32 (0.70) 0.49 (0.11) 0.01 (0.006) 1.321–5.286 9.010 [54]
Echinochloa crusgalli 2.59 (0.69) 1.20 (0.11) 0.03 (0.011) 0.058–0.125 0.083 [55]
Paspalum paspaloides 4.78 (0.22) 0.60 (0.30) 0.03 (0.013) 0.052–0.131 0.083 [55]
Mean (s.d) 4.88 (1.78) 1.59 (1.18) 0.07 (0.052)
Total 42.183–66.298 28.268
Shallow- Canna indica 1.01 (0.31) 1.10 (0.11) 0.01 (0.005) 3.775–11.325 20.590 [56]
water
emergent Cyperus alternifolius 1.51 (0.59) 1.70 (0.19) 0.03 (0.013) 21.213–53.701 34.060 [57]
plants Arundo donax 4.22 (0.27) 1.31 (0.62) 0.06 (0.030) 19.558–58.674 17.780 [58]
Cortaderia selloana 7.69 (0.03) 1.50 (0.24) 0.12 (0.019) 59.253–81.547 16.000 [59]
Phragmites australis 6.60 (0.54) 2.33 (0.30) 0.15(0.032) 103.321–159.359 23.880 [60]
Triarrhena sacchariflora 3.84 (0.18) 1.42 (0.34) 0.05 (0.016) 37.400–72.600 30.000 [61]
Mean (s. d) 4.14 (2.66) 1.56 (0.43) 0.07 (0.055)
Total 241.083–426.91 142.310
Floating-leaf Halerpestes cymbalaria 2.11 (0.26) 0.91 (0.07) 0.02(0.004) 58.186–87.278 99.180 [62]
aquatics
Salvinia natans 1.88 (0.36) 1.94 (0.77) 0.04(0.021) 0.320–1.029 0.460 [63]
Mean (s. d) 2.00 (0.17) 1.42 (0.73) 0.03(0.012)
Total 58.506–88.307 99.640
 Li Z M, et al. Chin Sci Bull
variations (0.01%–0.16%) of PhytOC contents of biomass
(dry weight) for the 18 plant species (Table 1). The PhytOC
contents of biomass for riparian plants (0.01%–0.16%, av-
erage 0.07%) and shallow-water emergent plants (0.01%–
0.16%, average 0.07%) are much higher than that (0.02%–
0.04%, average 0.03%) of floating-leaf aquatics (Table 1).
As Figure 2 shows, no obvious correlation (R2=0.0005,
P>0.05) exists between the phytolith content of biomass and
the occluded carbon content of phytoliths in the 18 plant
species. There is a weak positive correlation (R2=0.3477,
P<0.05) between the phytolith content of biomass and the
PhytOC content of biomass among the 18 plant species
(Figure 3). A strong positive correlation (R2=0.6066, P<
0.01) exists between the occluded carbon content of phyto-
liths and the PhytOC content of biomass among the 18 plant
species (Figure 4).
3 Discussion
3.1 Mechanisms of carbon occlusion within phytoliths
of wetland plants and its application
Although the PhytOC content of biomass for different
plants varies greatly, the factors controlling it remain to be
found. Recent studies [11–14] indicate that the PhytOC
Figure 2 Correlation of the phytolith content of biomass for plants and
occluded carbon content of phytoliths in the 18 plant species.
Figure 3 Correlation of the phytolith content of biomass and the PhytOC
content of biomass for plants.
July (2013) Vol.58 No.20 2483
Figure 4 Correlation of occluded carbon content of phytoliths and the
PhytOC content of biomass for plants.
contents of biomass for sugarcane, bamboo, wheat, and
millet have no direct relationship with the actual content of
silica (phytoliths) taken up by the plant, and mainly depend
on the efficiency of the carbon occlusion within phytoliths
during plant growth. However, the positive correlations
between the phytolith content of biomass and PhytOC con-
tent of biomass (R2=0.3477, P<0.05) (Figure 3), and be-
tween the occluded carbon content of phytoliths and the
PhytOC content of biomass (R2=0.6066, P<0.01) among the
18 wetland plants (Figure 4) indicate that the PhytOC con-
tent in wetland plants might depend on both the content of
phytoliths and the nature of silica occluding carbon within
cells of the phytoliths during plant growth. Thus, all factors
that influence the phytolith content of biomass and the effi-
ciency of carbon sequestration within phytoliths may influ-
ence the PhytOC content of biomass for plants [15]. For
example, factors including species, location, disease re-
sistance, and nutrient requirements may play a crucial role
in the accumulation of phytoliths during plant growth [15,
64,65]. The different shapes of phytoliths between different
plants (e.g. between Poaceae and Leguminosae) may also
cause differences in the occluded carbon content of phytoliths
because of differences in specific surface area (Table 1) [15,
66,67]. However, these indirect factors remain to be exam-
ined in further studies.
It is possible to enhance the PhytOC content of biomass
for plants by selecting plant species of high-phytolith con-
tent and high-phytolith carbon occlusion efficiency [12,13]
and by regulating silicon nutrient supply. Although some
plants have low phytolith carbon occlusion efficiency, it is
still possible to improve the PhytOC content of biomass for
plants by regulating silicon supply during plant growth.
Some studies also demonstrate that the silica (phytoliths)
content of biomass for plants can be effectively improved
by adding silicon fertilizers [68–72], calcium-magnesium
phosphate fertilizer [73], straws [74], and slag mucks [75].
Thus, it is possible to enhance the PhytOC content of bio-
mass for plants by regulating silicon nutrient supply for
some plants in artificial management ecosystems [15].
However, compared with regulation of silicon nutrient sup-
2484 Li Z M, et al.
ply, the selection of plant species with high phytolith con-
tent and high phytolith carbon occlusion efficiency has a
better opportunity to improve the amount of bio-seques-
trated carbon during land use and land-use change
[12,13,76]. As Table 1 shows, the occluded carbon content
of phytoliths among 18 plants species ranges from 0.49% to
3.97%, a relative variation of 810%. Therefore, these results
show that the selection of species with high-phytolith con-
tent and high-occluded carbon content of phytoliths would
lead to substantial enhancement of PhytOC content of bio-
mass for plants [11–13]. This is also applicable for other
plant species with significant variation of phytolith content
and the occluded carbon content of phytoliths, such as sug-
arcane [11], bamboo [12] and wheat [13].
3.2 Carbon sequestration potential within phytoliths of
wetland plants
The annual biomass production for each of the 18 plant spe-
cies was not available for the study site in Xixi wetland.
However, our estimated above-ground net primary produc-
tivity (ANPP) of some wetland communities is within the
range of the published data of biomass (Table 1). Thus, the
published ANPP of similar wetland communities was used
in conjunction with the PhytOC content of biomass to esti-
mate the potential of each plant PhytOC fluxes (Table 1).
Because of the difference of the PhytOC content of biomass
and ANPP among different plants, the potential plant Phy-
tOC fluxes range from 0.012 to 159.359 kg-e-CO2-ha−1 a−1
(Table 1). The mean contents of phytoliths and phytolith
occluded carbon for floating-leaf aquatics are much less
than that of shallow-water emergent plants. The total flux
(241.083–426.91 kg-e-CO2-ha−1 a−1) of PhytOC in shallow
water emergent plants with the high-phytolith content,
high-carbon occluded within phytoliths and high-biomass
are significantly greater than that of riparian plants and
floating-leaf aquatics. The flux (103.321–159.359 kg-e-
CO2-ha−1 a−1) of PhytOC in Phragmites australis with high-
er content of phytolith and occluded carbon within phyto-
liths is much larger than that of other plants. So, it is signif-
icantly important to select a plant (e.g. Phragmites australis)
with the high-phytolith content, high-carbon occluded
within phytoliths and high-biomass grow to improve the
Table 2 Comparison of estimated PhytOC fluxes and global total PhytOC rate in different ecosystems
PhytOC content of biomass
World ecosystems
(dry weight) (%)
Fen 0.01–0.25
Rice 0.04–0.28
Bamboo 0.24–0.52
Sugarcane 0.31–1.54
Wheat 0.06–0.60
Millet 0.04–0.27
Chin Sci Bull July (2013) Vol.58 No.20
total flux of PhytOC for plants in wetland ecosystems.
PhytOC sequestration flux of fen plant show that of
herb-dominated fen ecosystem. According to the PhytOC
sequestration flux of millet [14] and the global millet plant-
ing-area, the potential global total PhytOC sequestration
rate of millet is estimated.
The published ANPP data of herb-dominated fen plants
may be highly variable for different geographical locations
and species [77–79]. For example, the estimated ANPP in
mature herb-rich fen stands range from 1 to 29 t ha−1 a−1 by
Wheeler and Shaw [36]. Using the published ANPP data
(1–29 t ha−1 a−1) of herb-dominated fen [36] and the mean
PhytOC content of biomass for plants dry weight, the po-
tential of PhytOC sequestration flux (0.003–0.077 t-e-CO2
ha−1 a−1) is quantified in herb-dominated fen ecosystem
(Table 2). Compared with other studies (Table 2), the po-
tential flux (0.003–0.077 t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1) of the phytolith
carbon sequestration in this study is likely to be smaller than
that of bamboo, wheat, sugarcane and rice [11–13,15]. The
main causes are likely that the herb-dominated fen plant’s
ANPP or the occluded carbon content within phytoliths is
less than that of bamboo, wheat, sugarcane and rice.
According to the published fen area (1.37×107 ha) by
NBSC [80] and our studied PhytOC sequestration flux
(0.003–0.077 t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1) from herb-dominated fen
plants (Table 2), it is estimated that the potential rates of
CO2 occluded within phytoliths of herb-dominated fen
plants vary from 0.04×106 to 1.05×106 t CO2 equivalents
per year in China. Taking the world fen area (1.48×108 ha)
[81] and the largest phytolith carbon bio-sequestration flux
(0.077 t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1) of CO2 occlusion within phytoliths
from herb-dominated fen plants, about 1.14×107 t CO2
equivalents per year would have been sequestrated in phy-
toliths of fen plants globally. As for the 5.7×108 ha of the
world’s wetlands [81], assuming a similar phytolith carbon
bio-sequestration flux of 0.077 t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1, the global
potential rate for phytoliths carbon sequestration is estimat-
ed to be 4.39×107 t-e -CO2 a−1.
Although this study only chooses some Poaceae and oth-
er vegetation types to determine the variation of the PhytOC
fluxes in herb-dominated fen ecosystems, the estimation of
global potential CO2 sequestration rate (4.39×107 t) of phy-
toliths in wetland plants is much higher than that of bamboo
PhytOC sequestration fluxes Potential global total PhytOC
References
(t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1) sequestration rates (t-e-CO2 a−1)
7
0.003–0.077 1.14×10 this study
0.026–0.125 1.94×107 [15]
0.008–0.709 1.56×107 [12]
7
0.12–0.36 0.72×10 [11]
0.006–0.246 5.3×107 [13]
0.008–0.038 0.27×107 [14]
 Li Z M, et al. Chin Sci Bull
[12], sugarcane [11], millet [14] and rice [15] (Table 2). In
fact, the PhytOC as a relatively stable organic carbon
formed within many plants has considerable potential for
the bio-sequestration of atmospheric CO2 [11–15]. As phy-
toliths can be conserved in significant quantities for thou-
sands of years in some soils [82–84], the PhytOC may be
considered as an important part of soil stable organic carbon
and plays an important role in long-term carbon sequestra-
tion [4] and mitigation of global climate change [10–14].
However, this study is based on one particular type of
herb-dominated fen but there are other types of wetlands
with different vegetation compositions under different soil
and climate conditions, and more studies need to be done to
determine whether our conclusions can be extrapolated to
other types of wetland ecosystems.
4 Conclusions
In this study, our results reveal that the occluded carbon
content within phytoliths has substantial variation (0.49%–
3.97%) in the 18 wetland plants. The data also show that the
PhytOC content of biomass for plants mainly depends on
the efficiency of the carbon occluded within phytoliths dur-
ing plant growth, and secondarily on the phytolith content.
The potential PhytOC flux for fen plants ranges from 0.012
to 159.359 kg-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1. The selection of species with
high-phytolith content and high-occluded carbon content of
phytoliths for plants would lead to substantial enhancement
of the PhytOC content of biomass for plants.
The potential PhytOC sequestration fluxes vary from
0.003 to 0.077 t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1 in herb-dominated fen eco-
systems. In China, herb-dominated fen plants may seques-
trate 0.04×106 to 1.05×106 t CO2 equivalents per year. Giv-
en the global fen area of 1.48×108 ha and the largest flux
(0.077 t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1) of the CO2 occlusion within phyto-
liths of herb-dominated fen plants, we estimate that about
1.14×107 t CO2 equivalents per year would have been se-
questrated in phytoliths of fen plants. Our study results re-
veal that the 5.7×108 ha of the world’s wetlands, assuming a
similar phytoliths carbon bio-sequestration flux (0.077
t-e-CO2 ha−1 a−1) of herb-dominated fen plants, about 4.39×
107 t-e -CO2 a−1 may be sequestrated in phytoliths of wet-
land plants. However, more studies on the capacity of the
PhytOC accumulation in other wetland plants are needed to
quantify the global phytolith carbon bio-sequestration po-
tential.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (41103042), Zhejiang Provincial Key Science and Technology In-
novation Team (2010R50030), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science
Foundation Program (Y5080110 and Z5080203), the Opening Project of
State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry (SKLEG9011) and
the Opening Project of Ministry of Education Laboratory for Earth Surface
Processes, Peking University (201106).
July (2013) Vol.58 No.20 2485
1 Macías F, Arbestain M C. Soil carbon sequestration in a changing
global environment. Mitig Adapt Strat Gl, 2010, 15: 511–529
2 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Climate Change
2007: The Scientific Basis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2007
3 Oldenburg C M, Torn M S, DeAngelis K M, et al. Biologically En-
hanced Carbon Sequestration: Research Needs and Opportunities.
Report on the Energy Biosciences Institute Workshop on Biologically
Enhanced Carbon Sequestration, 2008
4 Parr J F, Sullivan L A. Soil carbon sequestration in phytoliths. Soil
Biol Biochem, 2005, 37: 117–124
5 Wilding L P, Brown R E, Holowaychuk N. Accessibility and proper-
ties of occluded carbon in biogenetic opal. Soil Sci, 1967, 103: 56–61
6 Wilding L P, Drees L R. Contributions of forest opal and associated
crystalline phases to fine silt and clay fractions of soils. Clay Clay
Miner, 1974, 22: 295–306
7 Mulholland S, Prior C. AMS radiocarbon dating of phytoliths.
MASCA Res Pap Sci Archaeol, 1993, 10: 21–23
8 Stromberg C. Use phytolith assemblages to reconstruct the origin and
spread of grass-dominated habitats in the great plains of North
America during the late Eocene to early Miocene. Paleogeogr Paleo-
climatol Paleoecol, 2004, 207: 239–275
9 Prasad V, Strömberg C, Alimohammadian H, et al. Dinosaur copro-
lites and the early evolution of grasses and grazers. Science, 2005,
310: 1177–1180
10 Wilding L P. Radiocarbon dating of biogenetic opal. Science, 1967,
156: 66–67
11 Parr J F, Sullivan L A, Quirk R. Sugarcane phytoliths: Encapsulation
and sequestration of a long-lived carbon fraction. Sugar Tech, 2009,
11: 17–21
12 Parr J F, Sullivan L A, Chen B, et al. Carbon bio-sequestration within
the phytoliths of economic bamboo species. Glob Change Biol, 2010,
16: 2661–2667
13 Parr J F, Sullivan L A. Phytolith occluded carbon and silica variabil-
ity in wheat cultivars. Plant Soil, 2011, 342: 165–171
14 Zuo X X, Lü H Y. Carbon sequestration within millet phytoliths from
dry-farming of crops in China. Chin Sci Bull, 2011, 56: 3451–3456
15 Li Z M, Song Z L, Parr J F, et al. Occluded C in rice phytoliths: Im-
plications to biogeochemical carbon sequestration. Plant Soil, 2013,
doi: 10.1007/s11104-013-1661-9
16 Gifford R. The global carbon cycle: A viewpoint on the missing sink.
Funct Plant Biol, 1994, 21: 1–15
17 Falkowski P, Scholes R J, Boyle E, et al. The global carbon cycle: A
test of our knowledge of earth as a system. Science, 2000, 290:
291–296
18 Kosten S, Roland F, Da Motta Marques D M L, et al. Climate-
dependent CO2 emissions from lakes. Glob Biogeochem Cycles,
2010, 24: GB2007
19 Martha A S, Brian C P, Enrique R, et al. Factors affecting spatial and
temporal variability in material exchange between the Southern Ev-
erglades wetlands and Florida Bay (USA). Estuar Coast Shelf Sci,
2003, 57: 757–781
20 Sovik AK, Klove B. Emission of N2O and CH4 from a constructed
wetland in southeastern Norway. Sci Total Environ, 2007, 380: 28–
37
21 Zhang F W, Liu A H, Li Y N, et al. CO2 flux in alpine wetland eco-
system on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China (in Chinese). Acta
Ecol Sin, 2008, 28: 453–462
22 Clark J M, Lane S N, Chapman P J, et al. Export of dissolved organic
carbon from an upland peatland during storm events: Implications for
flux estimates. J Hydrol, 2007, 347: 438–447
23 McNamara N P, Plant T, Oakley S, et al. Gully hotspot contribution
to landscape methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes in a
northern peatland. Sci Total Environ, 2008, 404: 354–360
24 Mariusz L, Milena O, Edward A D. Autogenic succession, land-use
change, and climatic influences on the Holocene development of a
kettle-hole mire in Northern Poland. Rev Palaeobot Palyno, 2008,
151: 21–40
25 Zhang Y, Li C, Trettin C C, Sun G, et al. Modelling soil carbon dy-
2486 Li Z M, et al. Chin Sci Bull
namics of forested wetlands. Symposium 43. Carbon Balance of Peat
lands sponsor. Inter Peat Soc, 1999
26 Drees L R, Wilding L P, Smeck N E, et al. Silica in soils: Quartz and
disordered silica polymorphs. In: Dixon B, Weed S B, eds. Minerals
in Soil Environments. Wisconsin: Soil Science Society America,
1989. 913–974
27 Ball T B, Gardner J S, Anderson N. Identifying inflorescence phyto-
liths from selected species of wheat (Triticummonoccum, T. dicoccon,
T. dicoccoides, and T. aestivum and barley Hordeum vulgare and H.
spontaneum). Am J Bot, 1999, 86: 1615–1623
28 Hodson M J, White P J, Mead A, et al. Phylogenetic variation in the
silicon composition of plants. Ann Bot, 2005, 96: 1027–1046
29 Struyf E, Van Damme S, Gribsholt B, et al. Biogenic silica in fresh-
water marsh sediments and vegetation. Mar Ecol-Prog Ser, 2005, 303:
51–60
30 Chen Q, Wu Q J. Landscape pattern change and its driving forces in
Xixi National Wetland Park since 1993 (in Chinese). Chin J Appl
Ecol, 2006, 17: 1677–1682
31 Gao Y L. The practices and improvements of the Xixi National Wet-
land Park Model, Hangzhou (in Chinese). Wetland Sci Manage, 2006,
2: 55–59
32 Lu Y, Chen K L. Analysis of several cases of wetland protection and
use at home and abroad and their inspiration for eco-tour of the Jinhu
National Urban Wetland Park in Zhejing Province (in Chinese).
Wetland Sci, 2006, 4: 268–273
33 Shao X X, Wu M, Jiang K Y. Distribution and ecological risk as-
sessment of heavy metal elements in soil of Xixi wetland (in Chi-
nese). Wetland Sci, 2007, 5: 254–259
34 Shen Q, Liu K, Li S Y, et al. Relationships of plant composition, wa-
ter level and solar radiation in Xixi wetland, Hangzhou, China (in
Chinese). J Plant Ecol (Chin Version), 2008, 32: 114–122
35 Scott D A, Jones T A. Classification and inventory of wetlands: A
global overview. Plant Ecol, 1995, 118: 3–16
36 Wheeler B D, Shaw S C. Above-groud crop mass and species rich-
ness of the principal types of herbaceous rich-fen vegetation of low-
land England and Wales. J Ecol, 1991, 79: 285–301
37 Charlton D L, Hilts S. Quantitative evaluation of fen ecosystems on
the Bruce Peninsula. In: Bardecki M J, Patterson N, eds. Ontario Wet-
lands: Inertia or Momentum. Proceedings of Conference, Ryerson
Polytechnical Institute, Toronto, Oct 21–22, 1988. Toronto, ON:
Federation of Ontario Naturalists, 1989
38 Keddy P A. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation. 2nd ed.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010
39 Large E C. Growth stages in cereals: Illustration of the Feeke’sscale.
Plant Pathol, 1954, 3: 128–129
40 Norris A R, Hackney C T. Silica content of a Mesohaline Tidal
Marsh in North Carolina. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci, 1999, 49: 597–605
41 Motomura H, Mita N, Susuki M. Silica accumulationin long-lived
leaves of sasa veitchii (Carriere) rehder (Poaceae-Bambusoideae).
Ann Bot-London, 2002, 90: 149–152
42 Parr J F, Dolic V, Lancaster G, et al. A microwave digestion method
for the extraction of phytoliths from herbarium specimens. Rev Pal-
aeobot Palyno, 2001, 116: 203–212
43 Walkley A, Black I A. An examination of the Degtjareff method for
determining soil organic matter, and a proposed modification of the
chromic acid titration method. Soil Sci, 1934, 37: 29–38
44 World Health Organization. Quality control methods for medicinal
plant materials. Office of Publications, World Health Organisation,
Geneva, 1998, 16
45 Murphy D B. Fundamentals of Light Microscopy and Electronic Im-
aging. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002, 122
46 Kroger N, Lorenz S, Brunner E, et al. Self-assembly of highly phos-
phorylated silaffins and their function in biosilica morphogenesis.
Science, 2002, 298: 584–586
47 Lu R K. Methods for Soil and Agrochemical Analysis. Beijing: China
Agriculture Press, 2000
48 Chen X, Xia Y P, Li Q, et al. Study on the changes of aquatic vegeta-
tion and its biomass in Caohai (in Chinese). Caohai Nat Nat Res Pro-
tect Sci Res Guizhou, China, 2012 (http://www.caohaibhq.com/
July (2013) Vol.58 No.20
operation.asp?ID=51)
49 He Y H, Zhao H L, Liu X P, et al. Growth characteristics and bio-
mass allocation of Setaria viridis on different types of sandy land (in
Chinese). Chin J Ecol, 2008, 27: 504–508
50 Yu M M. Studies on the population and the biomass changes of the
main weeds in Zoysia Lawns of Hefei (in Chinese). Dissertation for the
Master’s Degree. Hefei: Anhui Agricultural University, 2008. 10–16
51 Tang J W, Zhang J H, Song Q S, et al. Biomass and net primary
productivity of artificial tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna (in
Chinese). Chin J Appl Ecol, 2003, 14: 1–6
52 Zhang X L. Elimination effects of riparian vegetation buffer zones on
surface water nitrogen and phosphorus in Yongting River of China
(in Chinese). Dissertation for the Master’s Degree. Beijing: Beijing
Normal University, 2009. 12–14
53 Gill A S, Tang X C. Bermudagrass. India Farming, 1983
54 Pu C L, Zhou S R, Gang Y M, et al. Study on biomass and structuree
of several cultivated legumes—concurrent analysis of planting den-
sity of landino white clover (in Chinese). J Sichuan Grassland, 1997,
2: 11–18
55 Pan X J, Guo W, Sun B, et al. Effects of intra-specific competiton on
biomass allocation of Echinochloa crusglli (in Chinese). J Henan
Agric Sci, 2011, 40: 86–89
56 Li J N, Hu Y L,Wu X F, et al. Nitrogen and phosphours removal ca-
pacity of plant species in contructed wetlands for treating municipal
wastewater (in Chinese). Environ Pollut Control, 2007, 29: 506–509
57 Liao X D, Luo S M, Wu Y B, et al. Comparison of nutrient removal
ability between Cyperus alternifolius and Vetiveria zizanioides in
construcred wetlands (in Chinese). Chin J Appl Ecol, 2005, 16: 156–
160
58 Xue P, Wang X P, Li X Q. Biomass dynamice of Aundp donax Linn.
Growing on the Purple Shale areas in Hengyang, Hunan Province (in
Chinese). J Central South Forestry Univ, 2006, 26: 12–14
59 Chen Q X, Zheng J, Jin C, et al. Nirtogen and phosphorus uptake of
18 aquatic plant species in Sanyang Wetland (in Chinese). Acta Agric
Univ, 2008, 30: 438–442
60 Wu T G, Wu M, Yu M K, et al. Dynamics of biomass and N, P stor-
age of Phragmites australis in Hangzhou Bay Wetlands (in Chinese).
Chin Environ Sci, 2010, 30: 1408–1412
61 Huang J, Chen B J, Su Y S, et al. Progress in the development and
utilization of Miscanthus Sacchariflorus (Maxim.) Nakai (in Chinese).
Beijing Agric, 2011, 33: 183–184
62 Da L J, Chen M. Heavy metal content in different parts of Eichhornia
Grassipes and adsorption of its root system (in Chinese). Shanghai
Environ Sci, 2003, 22: 765–767
63 Li F, Xie Y H, Yang G, et al. Preliminary survey on aquatic vegeta-
tions in Baiyangdian Lake (in Chinese). Chin J Appl Ecol, 2008, 19:
1597–1603
64 Ma J F, Tamai K, Ichii M, et al. A rice mutant defective in active Si
uptake. Plant Physiol, 2002, 130: 2111–2117
65 Ding T P, Ma G. R, Shui M X, et al. Silicon isotope study on rice
plants from Zhejiang Province, China. Chem Geol, 2005, 218: 41–50
66 Bartoli F, Wilding L P. Dissolution of biogenic opal as a function of
its physical and chemical properties. Soil Sci Soc Am J, 1980, 44:
873–878
67 Bartoli F. Crystallochemistry and surface properties of biogenic opal.
J Soil Sci, 1985, 36: 335–350
68 Matichenkov V, Calvert D. Silicon fertilizers for citrus in Florida.
Proc Fla State Hor Soc, 1999, 112: 5–8
69 Alvarez J, Datnoff L E. The economic potential of silicon for inte-
grated management and sustainable rice production. Crop Prot, 2001,
20: 43–48
70 Ma J F, Takahashi E. Soil, Fertilizer, and Plant Silicon Research in
Japan. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 2002
71 Liang Y, Hua H, Zhu Y G, et al. Importance of plant species and ex-
ternal silicon concentration to active silicon uptake and transport.
New Phytol, 2006, 176: 63–72
72 Mecfel J, Hinke S, Goedel W A, et al. Effect of silicon fertilizers on
silicon accumulation in wheat. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci, 2007, 170: 769–
772
 Li Z M, et al. Chin Sci Bull July (2013) Vol.58 No.20 2487

73 Chen J G, Zhang Y Z, Zeng X B, et al. Effect of a long-term various science, 2001, 8: 499–505
fertilization on exchangeable Ca and Mg, and available S and Si con- 79 Vitt D H, Wieder R K, Scott K D, et al. Decomposition and peat ac-
tents in paddy soils (in Chinese). Ecol Environ, 2008, 17: 2064–2067 cumlation in rich fens of Boreal Alberta, Canada. Ecosystems, 2009,
74 Bao S D, Yang X R, Li X Q, et al. The effect of wheat yields on sili- 12: 360–373
con nutrition and the zinc silicon fertilizer in calcareous soils (in 80 National Bureau of Statistics of China. Area of Wetlands by Region.
Chinese). Soil, 1996, 6: 311–315 Beijing: China Statistics Press, 2011
75 Zhang Y L, Yu L, Liu M D, et al. Silicon liberation characteristics of 81 World Energy Council. Survey of Energy Resources 2007. Retrieved
soil and its effect factors after applying slag mucks (in Chinese). Chin 2008-08-11
J Soil Sci, 2008, 39: 722–725 82 Rosen A. Identifying ancient irrigation: A new method using opaline
76 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Land Use, Land-Use phytoliths from Emmer wheat. J Archaeol Sci, 1994, 21: 125–132
Change and Forestry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000 83 Zheng Y, Matsui A, Fujiwara H. Phytoliths of rice detected in the
77 Bartsch I, Moore T R. Preliminary investigation of primary produc- Neolithic sites in the valley of the Taihu Lake in China. Environ Ar-
tion and decomposition in four peatlands near Schefferville, Quebec. chaeol, 2003, 8: 177–184
Can J Bot, 1985, 63: 1241–1248 84 Cao Z H, Ding J L, Hu Z Y, et al. Ancient paddy soils from the Neo-
78 Vitt D H, Halsey L A, Campbell C, et al. Spatial patterning of net lithic age in China’s Yangtze River Delta. Naturwissenschaften, 2006,
primary production in wetlands of continental western Canada. Eco- 93: 232–236

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
Information for Authors English opens free to the readers in China at csb.scichina.com, and the full
Chinese Science Bulletin (CSB) is a multidisciplinary academic jour- text in English is available to overseas readers at www.springerlink.com.
nal supervised by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-sponsored 6. Since the OFC of each issue is designed based on the content of
by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and National Natural Science contributions, full colour illustrations or photographs are always welcome.
Foundation of China. Its mission is to encourage communication of basic 7. For detailed information concerning online submission, manuscript
and innovative research results of high quality in the fields of natural format, authorship, copyright transfer, etc., please visit www.scichina.com.
sciences and high technologies, especially focusing on breakthroughs by
Subscription information
the Chinese scientists. All papers should be intelligible for a broad scien-
tific audience. CSB is published three times every month from 2010. ISSN print edition: 1001-6538
Contributions are invited from researchers all over the world. ISSN electronic edition: 1861-9541
CSB is indexed by Academic Search Alumni Edition, Academic Search Volume 58(36 issues) will appear in 2013
Complete, Academic Search Elite, Academic Search Premier, ASFA 1: Subscription rates
Biological Sciences and Living Resources, ASFA 2: Ocean Technology, For information on subscription rates please contact: Customer Service
Policy and Non-Living Resources, Biological Abstracts, Biological Sciences, China: sales@scichina.org
BIOSIS Previews, CAB Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, Chemical and Earth
North and South America:
Sciences, Current Contents/Physical, Current Mathematical Publications,
journals-ny@springer.com
Digital Mathematics Registry, EMBio, Environmental Engineering Abstracts,
Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management, Google Scholar, Outside North and South America:
Inspec, Mathematical Reviews, MathSciNet, Meteorological and Geo- subscriptions@springer.com
astrophysical Abstracts, Pollution Abstracts, Science Citation Index,
SCOPUS, Water Resources Abstracts, Zentralblatt MATH, Zoological Orders and inquiries:
Record. Its impact factor and total citation for 2011 are 1.321 and 7080. China
Science China Press
1. Contributions published in CSB include the following: 16 Donghuangchenggen North Street,
News & Views: Introduce and comment on the research highlights pub- Beijing 100717, China
lished in CSB and other journals and outstanding work awarded by the Tel: +86 10 64019709
national prizes (approximately 1–2 pages). Fax: +86 10 64016350
Progress: Introduce and comment on the substantial advance and its Email: sales@scichina.org
importance in the fast-developing areas (approximately 3–4 pages).
North and South America
Review: Summarize the representative progress in core scientific disci-
Springer New York, Inc.
plines, comment on the research status, and make suggestions for future
Journal Fulfillment
work. It should be closely related to or based on the author’s own re-
search work (approximately 6–8 pages, with a 600-word abstract). P.O. Box 2485,
Secaucus, NJ 07096 USA
Frontiers: Comment on excitement and existing problems of hot fields or
hot topics, and offer suggestions for future research. The contributions Tel: 1-800-SPRINGER or 1-201-348-4033
are usually solicited by editor’s invitation. Fax: 1-201-348-4505
Articles: Originally report the innovative and valuable findings in natural Email: journals-ny@springer.com
sciences (approximately 4–7 pages, with a 300-word abstract). Outside North and South America
Letters: Briefly report the novel and innovative findings in natural sci- Springer Customer Service Center
ences (approximately 3 pages, with a 300-word abstract). Customer Service Journals
Forum: Comment on the important academic issues, administration Haberstr. 7,
policies and state scientific programmes, and give views about the theo- 69126 Heidelberg, Germany
retical problems such as the relation between scientific development and Tel: +49-6221-345-0, Fax: +49-6221-345-4229
social evolution (approximately 3–4 pages, with a 200-word abstract). Email: subscriptions@springer.com
Correspondence: Discuss and reply to the contributions published in
Cancellations
CSB, or introduce and comment on a controversial issue of general
interest (approximately 2–3 pages). must be received by September 30 to take effect at the end of the same year.
Trend: Report weighty scientific news, information, and academic affairs, Changes of address: Allow for six weeks for all changes to become effective.
as well as the significant international conferences held in China (ap- All communications should include both old and new addresses (with postal
proximately 1 page). codes) and should be accompanied by a mailing label from a recent issue.
Book Reviews: Introduce and comment on recent quality monographs of According to § 4 Sect. 3 of the German Postal Services Data Protection Reg-
natural sciences (approximately 1 page). ulations, if a subscriber’s address changes, the German Federal Post Office
can inform the publisher of the new address even if the subscriber has not
2. Contributions are required of a concise, focused account of the submitted a formal application for mail to be forwarded. Subscribers not in
findings and reliable essential data. They should be well organized and agreement with this procedure may send a written complaint to Customer
written clearly and simply, avoiding exhaustive tables and figures. Au- Service Journals, Karin Tiks, within 14 days of publication of this issue.
thors are advised to use internationally agreed nomenclature, express all
measurements in SI units, and quote all the relevant references. Microform editions are available from: ProQuest. Further information is
available at http://www.il.proquest.com/uni.
3. Authors are recommended to use our online submission services.
To submit a manuscript, please visit www.scichina.com, log on at Electronic edition
ScholarOne System, get an account, and follow the instructions to upload An electronic version is available at springerlink.com
the text and image/table files.
Production
4. The final decision to accept a contribution for publication will be
Science China Press
made by the editorial committee of this journal. If the authors do not
16 Donghuangchenggen North Street, Beijing 100717, China
receive decision letter after two months, they can submit the contributions
for publication elsewhere, except an agreement has been made in ad- Tel: +86 10 64034559
vance. Authors are usually informed timely if the contribution is not con- Fax: +86 10 64016350
sidered, but their manuscripts will not be returned, except for the photo- Printed in the People’s Republic of China
graphic material asked to be sent back. Springer-Verlag is part of Springer Science+Business Media
5. Authors of each published article will be presented one sample
copy. If more offprints and sample copies are required, please contact the Published by: Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
managing editor and pay the extra fee. The full text in Chinese and in Sole distributor outside Mainland China: Springer

© Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 csb.scichina.com www.springerlink.com