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The size and dynamics of biogenic silicon (BSi) pools influence silicon (Si) fluxes from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems. The research focus up to now was on the role of plants in Si cycling. In recent studies on old forests annual biosilicification rates of idiosomic testate amoebae (i.e. TA producing self-secreted silica shells) were shown to be of the order of Si uptake by trees. However, no comparable data exist for initial ecosystems. We analyzed the protozoic BSi pool (idiosomic TA), corresponding annual biosilicification rates and readily available and amorphous Si fractions along a 10-year chronosequence in a post-mining landscape in Brandenburg, Germany.

Idiosomic Si pools ranged from 3 to 680 g Si ha⁻¹ and were about 3–4 times higher at vegetated compared to uncovered spots. They increased significantly with age and were related to temporal development of soil chemical properties. The calculation of …