Research in New Phytologist shows that plants can acquire nutrients not only from the soil but also from atmospheric dust that settles and dissolves on their leaves, releasing elements such as phosphorus and iron.
In a Mediterranean field study simulating dust events, dust application increased plant macronutrient and micronutrient concentrations through the plants’ mildly acidic leaves. By integrating field observations with dust-deposition estimates and soil nutrient data from different regions, investigators found that during dust events, daily nutrient inputs via foliar uptake can match or exceed soil-derived inputs.
“This suggests a shift from the traditionally soil-centric view of nutrient acquisition toward a vegetation-mediated pathway, where the plant canopy acts as an active interface for capturing and processing atmospheric particles,” said Anton Lokshin, a postdoctoral researcher at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. “In nutrient-limited ecosystems, this leaf-based nutrient pathway may represent an important and currently overlooked contribution to plant nutrition and ecosystem functioning.”
The study was conducted by Anton Lokshin in the laboratory of Dr. Avner Gross, in collaboration with Dr. Daniel Palchan (Ariel University) Prof. Marcelo Sternberg (Tel Aviv University), Tom Goren (Bar Ilan university), and Andre (Mahdi) Nakhavali (IIASA).
URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.71112
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New Phytologist is an international journal publishing outstanding original research in plant science and its applications. Research falls into five sections: Physiology & Development, Environment, Interaction, Evolution, and Transformative Plant Biotechnology. Topics covered range from intracellular processes through to global environmental change. New Phytologist is owned by the New Phytologist Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of plant science.
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New Phytologist
Atmospheric dust is a global nutrient source for plants via foliar uptake
8-Apr-2026