Modelling the Plant Silicon Hydraulic Capacitance and Passive Uptake under Drought and Saline Conditions
Silicon is the second abundant element in the earth’s crust and may also exist in sufficient amounts in groundwater. The sprinkler irrigation with groundwater increases the silicic acid in soil water and therefore silicon uptake by plant root especially under abiotic stress conditions. As the silicon uptake process is mainly passive with mass flow, the soil water hydraulic capacitance was modified to express the process of silicon passive uptake because each soil skeleton has its unique concentration of silica due to its mineralogical decomposition. Silicon like hydraulic capacitance, Β_Si represents the fast reservoir of the soluble form of silica ready for root uptake and translocation to do its best for combating the adverse impacts of global climatic changes on the agro ecosystem’s continuum such as water and nutrients deficits, salinity stress, heat sock, and diseases. AMUN_SiHC model which is created to calculate the soil water hydraulic capacitance, siliconlike hydraulic capacitance, water and silicon passive uptake, was derived, run, and discussed
