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An experimental study by Nidhi Vastrad, Gayathri Rajendiran, Vivek Pandi Manipal Centre for Natural Sciences, Centre of Excellence, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576 104, Karnataka, India Fire has shaped landscapes for millennia, influencing vegetation patterns, and long-term environmental change. But once the flames disappear, how do we trace the history of these ancient […]

Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry (Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SBRAS) is one of the centers for studying the history of Western Siberian landscapes. The biogeocenology laboratory of this institute has been using phytolith analysis for paleoenvironmental reconstruction for over 10 years. The laboratory’s research focuses on several key areas: Identifying indicators […]

The first Australian publication on plant silica particles arrived in 1903 (Chapman & Grayson), after which early phytolith research efforts took place in the niches of biological and earth sciences (Turnbull et al. 2023). The first formal institution to pioneer Australian phytolith research was the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), which has locations […]

Biographical information. Alexandra Golyeva was born on October 11, 1958 in Syktyvkar in the family of a prominent soil scientist – I. V. Zaboeva. She graduated from the Soil Faculty of Moscow University. In 1987, she defended her candidate’s dissertation “Opal bioliths of podzolic soils of the middle taiga” under the supervision of academician G. […]

One important group of Russian phytolith researchers works at Altai State University, located in harsh Siberia near the Altai Mountains, a region noted for its floristic diversity and archeology. Phytolith research at the Department of Botany was initially pursued in association with archaeological research projects. Kirill and Yuri Kiryushin performed the first phytolith studies at […]

Unveiling Ancient Climates with Phytoliths: Insights from the Kashmir Himalaya Dr Irfan Rashid – Department of Botany, University of Kashmir Temporal vegetation patterns provide key insights into past climatic shifts, and phytoliths are a powerful tool in uncovering these secrets. Researchers from Kashmir University have reconstructed vegetation dynamics during the last glacial period using phytolith assemblages […]

Main Research Morphology and formation To reveal phytolith morphology changes in the plant-soil system, the seasonal variations of dissolved Si and phytoliths in the plant-soil system were studied on a karst mountain. We found that the phytolith morphology, assemblage, occluded elements, and dissolved Si varied in the bamboo forest plant-soil system during the growing season. […]

The Russian Association of Phytolith Researchers (RAP) was founded in 2014 by Alexandra Golyeva and Denis Gavrilov. At the same time, a regional community website was created: https://www.фитолит.рф/ru/. The main goals of the RAP are: 1. Development of communication between phytolith researchers from various scientific organizations in Russia; 2. Sharing knowledge between individual scientific teams; […]

The main academic contributions achieved are reflected in the following three aspects: 1. Breakthroughs in paleoanimal diet and paleoecology research 1.1 Phytolith evidence reveals the origin of angiosperm leaf-eating habits among ancient Cretaceous birds Recently, a study published in Nature Communications focused on the feeding habits of an ancient bird called Jeholornis from China’s Early […]

Following our last post, this publication showcases more information about young Latin America scientists across the field of phytolith research, highlighting their ongoing work. Argentina Álvaro José Alavar – Universidad Nacional de Jujuy Research title: “Combustion technologies and assembled culinary practices. Archaeobotanical studies in the foothills of Jujuy at the beginning of the first millennium […]