Plants are significant exponents of biological silicification. While not all plants are generally considered as biosilicifiers the extent to which all plants deposit biogenic silica is largely unknown. There are plants which are known as silica accumulators though even in these plants the extent and degree to which their tissues are silicified is neither appreciated nor understood. An elucidation of the mechanism of silicification in biota is complicated by a lack of known bio-organic chemistry of silicic acid, the starting point in this process. Herein I argue the case that biological silicification is an entirely passive process. It is passive from the point of view that its underlying mechanisms and processes do not require us to invoke any as yet undiscovered silicon biochemistry. It is also passive in that although silicification confers clear biological/ecological advantages under certain conditions, it is actually non-essential in all plants and potentially, at least, toxic in some.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 12 March 2016.
All research outputs
#14,826,358
of 22,829,683 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Plant Science
#9,249
of 20,146 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#153,996
of 278,739 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Plant Science
#131
of 365 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,829,683 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 32nd percentile – i.e., 32% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 20,146 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.0. This one is in the 47th percentile – i.e., 47% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 278,739 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 41st percentile – i.e., 41% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 365 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 54% of its contemporaries.
