By Pesach Benson • April 19, 2026
Jerusalem, 19 April, 2026 (TPS-IL) — A new study suggests that desert dust storms may be doing far more than clouding skies and travelling across continents. They may also be feeding plants directly through their leaves, scientists announced on Sunday in findings challenging long-standing assumptions about how vegetation absorbs nutrients.
A team of Israeli and Austrian researchers showed that mineral dust lifted from arid regions each year — billions of tons of it — does not only enrich ecosystems after it settles into soil. Instead, a portion of it is captured directly by plant foliage, where it can be absorbed and used as a nutrient source.
Dust Storms Are known to carry essential minerals such as phosphorus, iron and manganese across thousands of kilometers. These particles influence atmospheric processes and climate patterns, and have traditionally been understood to fertilize ecosystems indirectly by settling into soils and gradually replenishing nutrient stocks. But the new findings published in the peer-reviewed New Phytologist suggest that leaves themselves play a far more active role in this global nutrient cycle.
The study was led by Dr. Avner Gross and Dr. Anton Lokshin from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s Department of Environmental Sciences, Geoinformatics and Urban Planning. They worked in collaboration with researchers from Ariel University, Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv University and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.
The discovery emerged from a controlled field experiment carried out between February and April 2025 at an ecological research station in the Judean Mountains, during the region’s peak dust season. Under the supervision of Prof. Marcello Sternberg, researchers designed a system of protective enclosures around experimental plants to ensure that all groups experienced identical environmental conditions while isolating the effects of dust exposure.
Within each enclosure, plants were grown inside cylindrical structures wrapped in transparent agricultural plastic that allowed sunlight in while shielding them from wind, rain and animal disturbance. The lower section remained open to maintain airflow.
Three common Mediterranean plant species were tested: sage, sagebrush and yarrow. A total of 48 plants were divided into groups. Some had dust applied directly onto their leaves, others received dust on the soil near their roots, and a control group was left untreated. This design allowed the researchers to separate foliar uptake from traditional root-based absorption.
Leaves as Nutrient Gateways
The results pointed to a striking mechanism: leaves acted as highly efficient dust collectors. Much of the airborne material did not immediately reach the ground but instead adhered to foliage, where it remained in prolonged contact with the plant surface. This extended exposure, the researchers found, allowed nutrients to dissolve and become available for absorption.
Leaf surfaces also created a distinct chemical microenvironment that enhanced the breakdown of otherwise poorly soluble minerals. In some cases, nutrients were more readily available through foliage than through soil pathways alone.
Lokshin said the findings force a rethink of how plant nutrition is understood.
“A direct nutrient pathway through the leaves overturns the classic root- and soil-centered thinking,” he explained. “We hypothesize that the foliar pathway may become increasingly important as dust emissions increase in our region under future climate change, and given land degradation and desertification.”
Gross emphasized the broader ecological implications. “Nutrient deposition from dust storms likely shaped plant nutrition, terrestrial nutrient cycles, and ecosystem structure in the past, and its role is expected to become even more important in the future,” he said.
The researchers argue that foliar dust uptake may help explain how vegetation survives in nutrient-poor and dust-affected landscapes.
The study has several practical implications for agriculture, particularly in arid regions.
If plants can absorb nutrients directly through their leaves from airborne dust, farmers may be able to rethink fertilisation strategies with a stronger focus on foliar nutrition, including sprays designed to replicate or enhance the natural nutrient content of dust. It may also influence crop selection, favouring species with leaf structures that are more efficient at capturing airborne particles.
The mechanism by which leaves capture and process fine particles could inspire biomimetic applications, from improved filtration systems to more efficient nutrient delivery technologies.
On a broader scale, the findings could also reshape land restoration and ecological management efforts. In degraded landscapes, foliar nutrient uptake may improve establishment success in early stages of reforestation or rehabilitation projects.
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