Researchers have known for decades that silicon plays a major role in biogeochemical and plant–soil processes in terrestrial systems. Meanwhile, plant biologists continue to uncover a growing list of benefits derived from silicon to combat abiotic and biotic stresses, such as defense against herbivory. Yet despite growing recognition of herbivores as important ecosystem engineers, many major gaps remain in our understanding of how silicon and herbivory interact to shape biogeochemical processes, particularly in natural systems. We review and synthesize 119 available studies directly investigating silicon and herbivory to summarize key trends and highlight research gaps and opportunities. Categorizing studies by multiple ecosystem, plant, and herbivore characteristics, we find substantial evidence for a wide variety of important interactions between plant silicon and herbivory but highlight the need for more research particularly in non-graminoid-dominated vegetation outside of the temperate biome as well as on the potential effects of herbivory on silicon cycling. Continuing to overlook silicon–herbivory dynamics in natural ecosystems limits our understanding of potentially critical animal–plant–soil feedbacks necessary to inform land management decisions and to refine global models of environmental change.

中文翻译：

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综述与综合：植物-二氧化硅-草食动物相互作用对陆地生物地球化学循环的影响

几十年来，研究人员已经知道硅在陆地系统的生物地球化学和植物-土壤过程中起着重要作用。同时，植物生物学家继续发现越来越多的硅所带来的好处，以对抗非生物和生物胁迫，例如对草食动物的防御。然而，尽管食草动物日益被公认为重要的生态系统工程师，但我们对硅和食草动物如何相互作用以塑造生物地球化学过程（尤其是在自然系统中）的理解仍然存在许多重大空白。我们回顾并综合了119个直接研究硅和草食动物的可用研究，以总结关键趋势并强调研究差距和机遇。根据生态系统，植物和草食动物的多种特征对研究进行分类，我们找到了植物硅与食草动物之间各种重要相互作用的大量证据，但强调需要进行更多的研究，尤其是在温带生物群落以外的非类胡萝卜素占主导的植被中，以及对草食动物对硅循环的潜在影响。继续忽视自然生态系统中的硅-草食动物的动态，限制了我们对潜在的关键的动植物土壤反馈的理解，这些反馈对于制定土地管理决策和完善全球环境变化模型至关重要。