DOI: 10.5061/dryad.538f8
title: Data from: Consistent alleviation of abiotic stress with silicon addition: a meta-analysis

description: Hundreds of single species studies have demonstrated the facility of
 silicon (Si) to alleviate diverse abiotic stresses in plants.
 Understanding of the mechanisms of Si-mediated stress alleviation is
 progressing, and several reviews have brought information together. A
 quantitative assessment of the alleviative capacity of Si, however, which
 could elucidate plant Si function more broadly, was lacking. We combined
 the results of 145 experiments, predominantly on agricultural species, in
 a meta-analysis to statistically assess the responses of stressed plants
 to Si supply across multiple plant families and abiotic stresses. We
 interrogated our database to determine whether stressed plants increased
 in dry mass and net assimilation rate, oxidative stress markers were
 reduced, antioxidant responses were increased and whether element uptake
 showed consistent changes when supplied with Si. We demonstrated that
 across plant families and stress types, Si increases dry weight,
 assimilation rate and chlorophyll biosynthesis and alleviates oxidative
 damage in stressed plants. In general, results indicated that plant family
 (as a proxy for accumulator type) and stress type had significant
 explanatory power for variation in responses. The consistent reduction in
 oxidative damage was not mirrored by consistent increases in antioxidant
 production, indicative of the several different stress alleviation
 mechanisms in which Si is involved. Silicon addition increased K in
 shoots, decreased As and Cd in roots and Na and Cd in shoots. Silicon
 addition did not affect Al, Ca or Mn concentration in shoots and roots of
 stressed plants. Plants had significantly lower concentrations of Si
 accumulated in shoots but not in roots when stressed. Meta-analyses showed
 consistent alleviation by Si of oxidative damage caused by a range of
 abiotic stresses across diverse species. Our findings indicate that Si is
 likely to be a useful fertilizer for many crops facing a spectrum of
 abiotic stresses. Similarities in responses across families provide strong
 support for a role of Si in the alleviation of abiotic stress in natural
 systems, where it has barely been explored. We suggest this role may
 become more important under a changing climate and more experiments using
 non-agricultural species are now needed.
description: Data description for
 Cooke and LeishmanDescription of the
 column names in the csv files and the list of references used for the data
 compilationEffect size
 dataDataset reporting effect
 sizes from 125 articles exploring the effects of silicon on abiotic stress
 in plants used in Cooke, J. and M.R. Leishman (2016) Consistent
 alleviation of abiotic stress with silicon addition: a meta-analysis.
 Functional Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12713. Effect sizes are
 calculated by comparing responses of stressed plants supplied with silicon
 to stressed plants not supplied with silicon. The exception is for
 'Silicon concentration' where stressed plants are compared to
 non-stressed plants. Details of data compilation and effect size
 calculations can be found in the main manuscript.