Abstract: Wetland is rich in native species and unique in ecosystem functions on the Earth surface. Much environmental change information was reserved during wetland evolution, recording environmental changes of the wetland. Meanwhile, wetland has huge carbon reserves, so it is usually regarded as both “carbon source” and “carbon sink” in the terrestrial ecosystems. Phytolith research has been received extensive attention in the field of archaeology, paleoenvironment and global carbon sequestration, because phytolith is a significantly important indicator of climate change and long-term mechanism of terrestrial carbon sequestration. Research of phytolith and phytolith-occluded-carbon (PhytOC) is of great significance in exploring vegetation type change, reconstruction of regional paleoenvironment and “carbon sink” of wetland ecosystem. On the base of literatures on wetland phytolith research, this study summarizes the phytolith application in wetland paleoclimate and paleoenvironment, the morphology, content and distribution characteristics of phytolith in the wetland ecosystem, and the PhytOC content and its important role in global carbon sequestration.

Key words: arsenic, fluoride, biological exposure limit, benchmark dose., Wnt signaling pathway