Land Degradation & Development最新文献

{"title":"Enhancing Soil Quality and Ecosystem Multifunctionality to Increase Maize Yield in Saline‐Alkali Soil: A Multisource Nitrogen Fertilization Strategy","authors":"Yupeng Jing, Lanying Zhang, Meiying Liu, Yongqing Wang, Haiwen Duan, Bin Zhao, Weini Wang, Hongjin Liu, Zhigang Qiao, Jie Zhou, Xia Zhang","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70845","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70845","url":null,"abstract":"The positive effect of multisource nitrogen fertilization strategies on improving soil fertility and crop yield in saline‐alkali soil has been evaluated. However, the responses of soil quality and ecosystem functions to multisource nitrogen fertilization strategies, and their roles in regulating maize yields in saline‐alkali soils remain poorly understood. Therefore, a field experiment between 2021 and 2023 with an equal nitrogen input rate (260 kg N ha <jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> ) was carried out to investigate the effects of nitrogen fertilization treatment (CK, mineral fertilizer; FS, 1:1 nitrogen from mineral fertilizer and straw; FM, 1:1 nitrogen from mineral fertilizer and manure; FSM, 1:1:1 nitrogen from mineral fertilizer, manure and straw) on soil quality index (SQI), ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) and maize yield in saline‐alkali soil. Multisource nitrogen fertilization strategies increased SQI and EMF. The FSM treatment had the greatest benefits on soil quality and ecosystem functions at 0–10 cm topsoil due to the improvement of soil nutrients and saline‐alkali conditions. Soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AP), pH, salt, sucrase, alkaline phosphatase, and microbial diversity had significant explanations for the variations in SQI and EMF, and were the important regulators of maize yields. Partial least squares path modeling further showed that multisource nitrogen fertilization strategies indirectly increased maize yield by improving SQI, which was related to the increases in SOC, TN, and AP contents. Meanwhile, dual mitigation of salinity‐alkalinity stress promoted an amelioration in EMF at 0–10 cm topsoil, contributing to increased maize yield. Additionally, FSM treatment also improved EMF of the 10–20 cm depth by increasing sucrase and bacterial diversity, indirectly contributing to increased maize yields. Overall, FSM treatment had the highest maize yield, with 24.6% and 28.7% increases relative to CK treatment in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Therefore, FSM treatment was a short‐term promising fertilization strategy to synchronously improve soil quality, functionality and productivity in saline‐alkali soil.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148768309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatial Patterns, Driving Forces, and Potential Grain Losses of Non‐Grain Production of Farmland in Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration, China","authors":"Xiaoliang Ma, Chun Li, Shanshan Chen, Yiting Wang, Zhiqiang Lin, Liding Chen","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70886","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70886","url":null,"abstract":"The expansion of farmland non‐grain production (NGP) poses a potential threat to food security and agricultural land protection, particularly in mountainous urban agglomerations. However, the utilization patterns, driving mechanisms, and associated production‐loss effects of farmland NGP in this specific regional context remain insufficiently understood, creating substantial challenges for NGP governance. Therefore, using data from China's Third National Land Survey, this study develops an analytical framework to systematically examine the spatial patterns, driving factors, and potential grain losses associated with farmland NGP in the Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration (CYUA). The results show that farmland NGP is widespread in CYUA and exhibits pronounced regional differentiation. The utilization model, which is primarily focused on the industrial‐structure‐oriented NGP (ISNGP), will lead to the loss of arable land and the destruction of the arable layer. The “core‐periphery” spatial pattern presented by NGP is influenced by both direct land competition and indirect socio‐economic transformation brought about by urbanization. The NGP in the CYUA is not a homogeneous process but rather a heterogeneous process nested and regulated by the triple mechanisms of “topographic constraints, economic drivers, and agent responses.” Based on the regional average yield, NGP would reduce the potential grain‐sown area by 24.44%, resulting in a potential grain‐production loss of 308.81 × 10 <jats:sup>4</jats:sup> <jats:italic>t</jats:italic> , which could theoretically feed 7.7204 million people. We recommend differentiated NGP governance strategies by type and region and propose that the impact of NGP on grain output should be treated as a key criterion in NGP management. This study provides the first comprehensive and closed‐loop analysis of regional farmland NGP, ranging from pattern identification to governance strategy formulation. The proposed typology and region‐specific governance recommendations provide targeted scientific support for addressing farmland NGP and safeguarding regional food security.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"63 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148768307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecological Challenges and Strategic Responses to China's Quantitative Rigidity of Cultivated Land Protection","authors":"Yuzhe Wu, Zhuofan Li, Xinyan Shen","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70873","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70873","url":null,"abstract":"Balancing food security and ecological sustainability has become a critical challenge for land governance in rapidly urbanizing countries. China has successfully maintained national cultivated land quantity through a comprehensive farmland protection regime. However, the sustainability implications of this quantity‐oriented approach remain insufficiently understood. This study examines China's cultivated land protection system from the perspective of spatial restructuring and its associated ecological consequences. The results reveal a pronounced shift of cultivated land from the economically developed southeastern region toward northern and northwestern China, a trend further reinforced by recent territorial spatial planning. While this redistribution helps maintain cultivated land quantity, it increasingly concentrates agricultural production in regions characterized by water scarcity, ecological fragility, and limited environmental carrying capacity. Consequently, growing mismatches emerge between cultivated land allocation, water‐resource endowment, population distribution, and ecological suitability. The findings suggest that the current protection regime has not eliminated ecological pressures but has progressively transferred them from developed regions to environmentally sensitive agricultural frontiers. This study contributes to the literature by shifting attention from cultivated land quantity to the spatial consequences of protection policies and introducing the concept of ecological risk transfer to explain the unintended socio‐ecological outcomes of quantity‐based land governance. The future challenge of cultivated land protection lies not in preventing farmland loss alone, but in ensuring the spatial sustainability of agricultural production. Accordingly, cultivated land governance should move beyond quantity preservation toward a more integrated framework emphasizing spatial optimization, farmland quality enhancement, and multilevel ecological compensation.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148768310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Synergistic Regulation of Soil Function and Wind Erosion Resistance by Sand Barriers, Vegetation, and Artificial Biological Crust in the Tengger Desert","authors":"Bin Pan, Chen Meng","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70882","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70882","url":null,"abstract":"Aeolian desertification poses a critical threat to ecosystem stability in arid regions worldwide. Although the combination of sand barriers and vegetation has been widely applied for sand fixation, its long‐term effectiveness is constrained by barrier degradation, slow natural development of biological soil crusts (BSCs), and the resulting spatial–temporal heterogeneity in surface erodibility. This study addresses the knowledge gap regarding how artificial BSC inoculation interacts with different sand barrier types and vegetation species to regulate soil properties and wind erosion resistance. established a three‐factor completely randomized block design involving five sand barrier types (6‐year, 4‐year, and 2‐year brush‐net rope checkerboard barriers; HDPE barriers; and no barriers as shifting sand control), five vegetation conditions ( &lt;jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\"&gt; &lt;jats:italic&gt;Pinus sylvestris&lt;/jats:italic&gt; &lt;/jats:styled-content&gt; var. &lt;jats:italic&gt;mongolica&lt;/jats:italic&gt; , &lt;jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\"&gt; &lt;jats:italic&gt;Caragana korshinskii&lt;/jats:italic&gt; &lt;/jats:styled-content&gt; , &lt;jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\"&gt; &lt;jats:italic&gt;Hedysarum scoparium&lt;/jats:italic&gt; &lt;/jats:styled-content&gt; , &lt;jats:italic&gt;Artemisia ordosica&lt;/jats:italic&gt; , and non‐vegetated), and artificial BSC inoculation. Soil samples were collected at 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm depths, and wind erosion depth was monitored using the erosion pin method at 30, 60, and 90 days post‐inoculation. Three‐way ANOVA revealed that sand barrier type was the dominant factor influencing BSC development, with the 6‐year barrier producing the greatest crust thickness (5.63 mm at 60 days, &lt;jats:italic&gt;F&lt;/jats:italic&gt; = 9.15, &lt;jats:italic&gt;p&lt;/jats:italic&gt; &lt; 0.001) and the most stable crust area (CV ≤ 15%). Wind erosion depth was significantly reduced under the 6‐year barrier compared to shifting sand (from 51.0 mm to 3.32 mm, a 93.5% reduction at 60 days). Soil organic carbon (SOC) in the surface layer was significantly affected by vegetation type ( &lt;jats:italic&gt;F&lt;/jats:italic&gt; = 3.43, &lt;jats:italic&gt;p&lt;/jats:italic&gt; = 0.015), with the &lt;jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\"&gt; &lt;jats:italic&gt;C. korshinskii&lt;/jats:italic&gt; &lt;/jats:styled-content&gt; treatment under the 4‐year barrier achieving the highest SOC content (2.28 g/kg). Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated that wind erosion depth was significantly negatively correlated with crust thickness ( &lt;jats:italic&gt;r&lt;/jats:italic&gt; = −0.542 to −0.951, &lt;jats:italic&gt;p&lt;/jats:italic&gt; &lt; 0.05) but not with crust area, indicating that crust thickness is the primary driver of wind erosion resistance. The optimal restoration model identified was “artificial BSCs + 6‐year brush‐net barrier + &lt;jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\"&gt; &lt;jats:italic&gt;H. scoparium&lt;/jats:italic&gt; &lt;/jats:styled-content&gt; / &lt;jats:italic&gt;A. ordosica&lt;/jats:italic&gt; ”, which enhances system stability through the chain mechanism of “barrier stabilization → BSC‐mediated soil improve","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148768347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Harnessing Spatial and Multi‐Criteria Decision Analysis ( MCDA ) to Optimize Land Suitability for Kenaf Cultivation in Kelantan: Pathways for Sustainable Economic Development","authors":"Nur Afiqah Ariffin, Zainol Jamil, Yaniza Shaira Zakaria, Nur Ain Che Mat Ali, Azizul Ahmad","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70843","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70843","url":null,"abstract":"In Kelantan, entrenched land degradation and extensive idling of agricultural lands exacerbate rural poverty. Current top‐down planning often overlooks local geographic and social constraints, despite state initiatives to convert idle lands and strengthen rural livelihoods. To address this, an integrated GIS–MCDA framework (using AHP) was developed to identify ecologically and socioeconomically optimal land for kenaf cultivation. Eight weighted criteria (land use, soil fertility and series, slope, elevation, geology, and proximity to rivers and roads) were combined via AHP in GIS, a well‐established land‐suitability method. The resulting suitability map was validated against the 2024 Agricultural Census and overlaid with e‐Kasih poverty data. The analysis identifies highly suitable kenaf zones in Kelantan's inland districts (overlapping areas of acute poverty), a distribution notably misaligned with official coastal development zones. Overlaying suitability with vulnerability data highlights gaps in current zoning and reveals opportunities for targeted agricultural diversification. By integrating land potential with socioeconomic vulnerability, the framework informs evidence‐based land rehabilitation and rural development strategies. Ultimately, this GIS–MCDA approach supports sustainable, inclusive land use planning and offers evidence‐based guidance for Malaysia to rehabilitate degraded lands and boost rural incomes. These outcomes contribute directly to SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 15 (life on land), and provide a replicable model for sustainable agricultural planning under global development agendas.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148754429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heterogeneity and Controlling Mechanisms of Soil Organic Carbon Stocks Across Erosion Zones in China Under Future Climate Scenarios","authors":"Xinxin Jin, Xintong Liu, Qianlai Zhuang, Zijiao Yang, Zicheng Wang, Chen Li, Shuai Wang, Yang Wang","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70818","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70818","url":null,"abstract":"Soil organic carbon (SOC), as a key indicator of global carbon cycling and climate change response, plays a critical role in regional ecological security and agricultural sustainability. This study employs three machine learning models including the LightGBM, XGBoost, and random forest to simulate the spatial distribution of topsoil SOC stocks across different erosion types in China, and project their evolutionary trends under future climate scenarios. Model validation demonstrated high accuracy and strong consistency, while factor importance analysis revealed that mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, and elevation were the primary environmental drivers influencing the spatial variability of SOC stocks. Under both SSP245 and SSP585 scenarios, SOC stocks in China have a declining trend by 2050 and 2090. Areas affected by freeze–thaw erosion were the most sensitive to rising temperatures, whereas water erosion regions—due to their extensive spatial coverage—are projected to become the dominant zones of carbon loss. Spatially, carbon change hotspots were concentrated in the retreat zones of permafrost regions and mid‐ to low‐latitude water erosion areas, while changes in wind erosion zones remain relatively moderate but were significantly influenced by shifts in precipitation patterns. This study highlights the regional heterogeneity in SOC stocks responses to future climate change across China, underscoring the necessity of integrating natural processes and human activities specific to each erosion type when formulating national‐scale soil conservation and carbon management strategies. These findings provide a scientific foundation for promoting sustainable land management and enhancing ecosystem carbon sequestration capacity in China.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148754463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatiotemporal Interactions of Land Use Change, Land Surface Temperature, and Vegetation Dynamics in China's Caohai National Nature Reserve","authors":"Yin Su, Ran Liu, Jie Liu, Xiaohui Xue","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70875","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70875","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of land use change (LUC), land surface temperature (LST), and vegetation indices is critical for assessing ecological changes and informing sustainable land management. This study investigates the long‐term interrelationships between LUC, LST, and vegetation indices in China's Caohai National Nature Reserve (CNNR) from 2000 to 2024. A comparative analysis was conducted by dividing the reserve into an Ecological Landscape Protection Zone (ELPZ) and a Land Use Development Zone (LUDZ). Utilizing multi‐temporal Landsat imagery, we quantified trends in land use types, LST, and vegetation indices, assessing their correlations through Pearson correlation and linear regression analysis. The results indicate that: (1) Cultivated land and construction land underwent the most substantial transitions, with net increases of 25.17% and 362.68%, respectively; (2) The mean LST followed a non‐linear trend, rising from 19.56°C (2000) to a peak of 21.68°C (2013) before fluctuating to 21.36°C in 2024; (3) Vegetation indices increased significantly ( <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.05), indicating improved vegetation cover, particularly in the LUDZ; (4) LST exhibited a significant negative correlation with the spatial extent of forest and water bodies ( <jats:italic>R</jats:italic> <jats:sup>2</jats:sup> &gt; 0.7) and a positive correlation with cultivated and construction land ( <jats:italic>R</jats:italic> <jats:sup>2</jats:sup> &gt; 0.5); (5) A strengthening positive correlation between NDVI and LST was observed in the ELPZ ( <jats:italic>R</jats:italic> <jats:sup>2</jats:sup> : 0.69–0.80), contrasting with a weak‐to‐negative correlation in the urbanized LUDZ ( <jats:italic>R</jats:italic> <jats:sup>2</jats:sup> : 0.10–0.03). These findings underscore the necessity of land management policies that control urban expansion and promote vegetation restoration to mitigate regional warming and enhance ecological resilience.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148729238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimization of Land Pattern in Mining Area Based on the Improvement of Ecosystem Service Function—A Case Study of Fushun Mining Area","authors":"Luge Rong, Changwei An","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70831","url":null,"abstract":"Mining activities are prevalent worldwide and pose significant threats to the supply of ecosystem services (ESs) for humanity. Many mining areas face challenges related to recovery and reclamation following resource depletion. A key challenge for the sustainable development of these areas is how to achieve collaborative optimization of land pattern and enhancing ESs during the restoration process. To address the above challenges, we have innovatively analyzed land suitability through machine learning, and combined with ESs assessment (InVEST) and driving factor analysis (Geographic detector, Structural equation model) to explore the optimal land pattern for future Fushun mining area restoration. The findings are as follows: (1) From 1990 to 2020, water yield (WY), soil conservation (SC), and food production (FP) exhibited an increasing trend (8%, 3%, 22%), while habitat quality (HQ) and carbon sequestration (CS) showed a decreasing trend (12%, 4%). Plus model predicts that ESs will decrease 4%–60% in the future from 2030 to 2050. (2) Surface mining significantly impacts SC by indirectly altering terrain, which subsequently affects ESs that are coordinated with SC; normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is the main factor to improve ESs (0.2–0.6). (3) Machine learning analysis revealed that high forestland reclamation suitability is primarily concentrated in the open‐pit mine and factory boundaries, whereas mine pits are more suitable for water reclamation. The peripheral areas of the mining site are more suited for farmland and construction land reclamation. (4) Based on the results of land suitability and ecosystem services, the optimal land pattern under ESs enhancement scenarios was proposed. In the future, the land pattern of “pit water storage—in field farming—peripheral afforestation” should be formed to rationally restore land and comprehensively enhance ESs. This study proposes a new method for optimizing the land pattern of mining areas for the improvement of ecosystem services, which provides an important reference for the sustainable development of other mining areas in the world.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148729236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to “Interplanted Crops and Rainfall Variability Regulate Soil Erosion in Rainfed Maize of the Indian Himalayas”","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70690","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70690","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148729237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil Contamination Around the Copper Smelter and the Use of Soil Microarthropods as Bioindicators","authors":"Jacek Malica, Cezary K. Urbanowski, Mirosław Mleczek, Krzysztof Turczański, Przemysław Niedzielski, Anna Wierzbicka, Agnieszka Andrzejewska, Radosław Witkowski, Maciej Skorupski, Emilia Pers‐Kamczyc, Jacek Kamczyc","doi":"10.1002/ldr.70839","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.70839","url":null,"abstract":"Soil contamination from smelter emissions, including heavy metals (HM), rare earth elements (REEs), and sulfur, poses a significant threat to soil ecosystems. In the immediate vicinity of the Głogów Copper Smelter, HM concentrations were several times higher than in more distant forest stands. This study assessed the impact of pollutants on soil fauna in single‐aged pine forests, with detailed analyses for Mesostigmata, Oribatida, and Collembola, and broader soil arthropod communities evaluated using the QBS‐ar index. A total of 5819 individuals and 91 taxa of microarthropods were reported. Overall, 88 soil parameters were ultimately examined and analyzed. Results indicated that manganese (Mn), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), uranium (U), and rubidium (Rb) had the greatest influence on soil organisms. In terms of abundance, species richness, and diversity, the environmental state was best reflected by Mesostigmata mites, particularly the species <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\"> <jats:italic>Zercon fageticola</jats:italic> </jats:styled-content> Halašková. Pollutant concentrations decreased with distance from the copper smelter, and responses of soil fauna varied among groups, reflecting differences in sensitivity to contamination. These results emphasize the value of combining taxon‐specific and community‐level approaches to monitor the ecological effects of industrial emissions.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148717291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}