Soil & Environmental Health最新文献

{"title":"An integrated approach for determining the spatial distribution, source apportionment and human health risks of PAHs in soils of rapidly-urbanized areas","authors":"Lingzhi Luo ,&nbsp;Xiaoyong Liao ,&nbsp;Huan Tao ,&nbsp;You Li ,&nbsp;Liang Wang ,&nbsp;Hongying Cao ,&nbsp;Yonghua Li ,&nbsp;Weiwei Shi ,&nbsp;Tianyi Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100161","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100161","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rise of large urban agglomerations has exacerbated pollutant emissions, resulting in regional soil contamination with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which jeopardizes the development of urban agglomerations and affects human health. There is a lack of research in this area in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with the existing studies on PAHs in soil in the larger region often neglecting the spatial heterogeneity of the pollution sources and systematic analysis of risk assessment. This study introduces the Distribution-Source-Risk framework, analyzed soil PAH pollutants in the region, and examined PAH sources, distribution patterns, and associated health risks. Random forest modeling was employed to map PAH distribution in the BTH soils. City classification analysis was conducted based on the derived pollution levels and urbanization degree, resulting in four city types: high urbanization and high pollution, high urbanization and low pollution, low urbanization and high pollution, and low urbanization and low pollution. Primary PAH sources include coal-burning (29%), coking (25%), traffic (25%), and biomass-burning (21%), with varying contributions based on city types. The overall order of human health risks was coal-burning ​&gt; ​traffic ​&gt; ​coking ​&gt; ​biomass-burning sources. Finally, differen policies for soil PAH PAH management (such as energy transition and green infrastructure) were elaborated to promote coordinated development of regional urbanization environment. In summary, this research offers a comprehensive approach, linking processes to provide a precise understanding of pollution across different entities (cities, sources, and populations). Our findings reveal distinct pollution patterns across city types and highlight targeted mitigation priorities and provide a systematic, data-driven framework for regional soil PAH management and public health protection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94356,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Environmental Health","volume":"3 3","pages":"Article 100161"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144239695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate-management interactions drive soil organic carbon sequestration potential in China's croplands during 2020–2060","authors":"Wenfang Jiang ,&nbsp;Ziqi Lin ,&nbsp;Zhangcai Qin ,&nbsp;Xinqing Lu ,&nbsp;Wen Zhang ,&nbsp;Qing Zhang ,&nbsp;Sijing Ye ,&nbsp;Huirong Li ,&nbsp;Huilin Ge ,&nbsp;Guocheng Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100159","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100159","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in croplands plays a vital role in mitigating climate change and enhancing soil fertility. As one of the world's leading agricultural nations, China's croplands exhibit highly representative climate types, soil conditions, crop varieties, and farming systems on a global scale. Despite extensive studies on SOC dynamics, the spatial variability of SOC sequestration potential remains insufficiently quantified across China's diverse agricultural regions, which adopt varying straw management practices. This study employs a process-based modeling approach to systematically assess the dynamics and sequestration potential of SOC in China's croplands (122 ​Mha) from 2020 to 2060. We found that by sustaining a moderate historical management during 2015–2020 (i.e., an average of ∼37% residue retention rate in addition to traditional root residue retention and farmyard manure application), China's croplands SOC stock is projected to increase by more than 25% by 2060, corresponding to total SOC sequestration of ∼ 1650 ​Tg ​C at the national scale. Regional variability exists, with southern China (e.g., east and central, south and central, and southwest regions) contributing to ∼84% of total SOC sequestration, while northeast region has minimal sequestration potential. Carbon inputs, temperature, and precipitation are positively correlated with SOC dynamics, while initial SOC density shows a negative partial correlation with changes in SOC. This study not only characterizes the dynamics of SOC in China's croplands over the next 40 years under different carbon management practices and climate change scenarios, but also presents the pathways for achieving sustainable carbon sequestration in future croplands. Our findings highlight the importance of sustaining and optimizing straw return practices, alongside region-specific strategies, to maximize SOC sequestration and support global climate mitigation goals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94356,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Environmental Health","volume":"3 3","pages":"Article 100159"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144239694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Phosphorus limitation enhances plant growth and arsenic accumulation in As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata: insights from insoluble calcium phytate and phosphate rock","authors":"Chun-Yan Hu ,&nbsp;Shufen Xiao ,&nbsp;Daniel Menezes-Blackburn ,&nbsp;Benjamin L. Turner ,&nbsp;Yue Cao ,&nbsp;Chenjing Liu ,&nbsp;Lena Q. Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100158","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100158","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Phosphorus (P) is an essential macronutrient for plant growth, but its availability in soil is often insufficient to achieve optimum crop yield. The As-hyperaccumulator <em>Pteris vittata</em> thrives under low-P condition, with the underlying mechanisms remaining unclear. To understand the P-scavenging traits of <em>P. vittata,</em> we grew <em>P vittata</em> under three P-limiting conditions, low soluble-P, calcium phytate (insoluble organic P), and phosphate rock (PR; insoluble inorganic P), to quantify plant growth, As and P uptake, root exudates, and the gene expression of P transporters. Plants were grown under hydroponics with 50 ​μM As and 20 ​μM soluble-P, 2000 ​μM phytate-P, or 2000 ​μM PR-P, with 200 ​μM soluble-P as a sufficient P control. <em>P. vittata</em> efficiently acquired P when growing under all three low-P sources, with 76–85% greater P in its biomass compared to the sufficient P control. To acquire P from insoluble source, <em>P. vittata</em> secreted 1.7−2.9 fold more organic acids, including malic acid, succinic acid, oxalic acid, and phytic acid as root exudates under phytate and PR treatments. Further, <em>P. vittata</em> increased phytase activity to hydrolyze phytate, showing 6.5- and 3.3-fold greater phytase activity in <em>P. vittata</em> roots and root exudates under phytate treatment. Besides, the frond As content rose by 275–384% when growing under three low-P conditions, possibly attributing to 1.2−5.6 fold upregulation of P-transporters <em>PvPht1;</em><em>3/</em><em>1;</em><em>4</em> in <em>P. vittata</em> roots. Overall, this study suggests that the effective P and As accumulation by <em>P. vittata</em> under P-limiting conditions is associated with its increased root exudation of organic acids and phytase, and the upregulation of its P-transporters. These findings help to enhance the effectiveness of <em>P. vittata</em> in phytoremediation of As-contaminated soil and improve soil P utilization by crop plants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94356,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Environmental Health","volume":"3 3","pages":"Article 100158"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144170468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Accurate detection of low concentrations of microplastics in soils via short-wave infrared hyperspectral imaging","authors":"Huan Chen ,&nbsp;Taesung Shin ,&nbsp;Bosoon Park ,&nbsp;Kyoung Ro ,&nbsp;Changyoon Jeong ,&nbsp;Hwang-Ju Jeon ,&nbsp;Pei-Lin Tan","doi":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100157","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100157","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study evaluated the effectiveness of coupling machine learning algorithms with short-wave infrared hyperspectral imaging in detecting two types of microplastics - polyamide and polyethylene - with the maximum particle sizes of 50 and 300 ​μm, respectively, across three concentration ranges (0.01–0.10, 0.10–1.0, and 1.0–12 ​%) in soils. Using indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs; 800–1600 ​nm) and mercury cadmium telluride (MCT; 1000–2500 ​nm) sensors, we applied logistic regression and support vector machines by employing both linear and nonlinear kernels to analyze spectral features extracted via principal component analysis and partial least squares. The results demonstrated that the overall accuracy for detecting 0.01–12% microplastics was 93.8 ​± ​1.47% using the MCT sensor, which was higher than 68.8 ​± ​3.76 ​% using the InGaAs sensor. Both sensors showed high accuracy (&gt;94 ​%) when detecting high levels at 1.0–12%) of microplastics in soil. But these accuracies greatly declined as the spiked microplastics concentrations decreased from 1.0–12 to 0.10–1.0% and further to 0.01–0.10%. Moreover, this decline was more pronounced for the InGaAs sensor compared to the MCT sensor and for sub-wavelength spans compared to the full wavelength span under each sensor. The MCT sensor consistently outperformed the InGaAs sensor across all three concentration ranges, potentially due to its extended coverage of 1600–2500 ​nm and high sensitivity of the detector. Our study highlights the feasibility of the MCT hyperspectral imaging system for rapid and effective detection of microplastics in soils non-invasively at concentrations as low as 0.01%.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94356,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Environmental Health","volume":"3 3","pages":"Article 100157"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144115249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing whole-profile soil organic carbon predictions in croplands through a depth-resolved modelling approach","authors":"Hangxin Zhou ,&nbsp;Yuchen Wei ,&nbsp;Mingming Wang ,&nbsp;Liujun Xiao ,&nbsp;Zhongkui Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100156","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100156","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil organic carbon (SOC) enrichment in agricultural soils plays a vital role in supporting climate-smart sustainable crop production. Process-based agricultural system models are key tools for assessing the whole-profile SOC dynamics to help identify proper agricultural management practices. However, the depth-dependent characteristics of SOC turnover are often overlooked in these models, leading to substantial uncertainties in SOC predictions. Here, we evaluated the capabilities of the Agricultural Production System sIMulator (APSIM) to predict multi-layer SOC dynamics using data from five long-term field experiments across the main wheat and maize producing regions in China. Our results suggested that incorporating a depth-modifier for SOC decay rates significantly improved APSIM's performance in predicting the vertical distribution and temporal dynamics of SOC, with the coefficient of determination (R²) being increased from 0.75 to 0.93 and relative root mean square error being decreased from 0.2 to 0.07. Specifically, the maximum SOC decay rates were predicted to decrease with increasing soil depth, though the decreasing rate varied widely across the experimental sites. This depth-resolved modelling approach has implications for predicting whole-profile SOC dynamics in response to nitrogen fertilization, tillage and residue management scenarios. Our findings demonstrate the importance of depth-resolved modelling approach to enhance the reliability of whole-profile SOC predictions, thereby informing effective management strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94356,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Environmental Health","volume":"3 3","pages":"Article 100156"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Geochemical behavior of engineered nanoparticles under biotic and abiotic processes","authors":"Shunling Li ,&nbsp;Chenghong Ao ,&nbsp;Min Wu ,&nbsp;Peng Zhang ,&nbsp;Bo Pan ,&nbsp;Baoshan Xing","doi":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100145","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100145","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are inevitably released into the environment, causing health concerns due to their increased concentrations and negative impacts. In natural settings, organisms may encounter transformed ENPs due to their interactions with diverse environmental substances. While numerous reviews have discussed the environmental behavior and toxicity of ENPs, a comprehensive understanding of their transformation in the environment remains insufficient. This review focused on the behavior of ENPs and their transformations across various environmental compartments, including aggregation, oxidation, dissolution and vulcanization, which is essential for understanding their environmental fate, bioavailability and toxicity. The interactive mechanisms between both pristine and transformed ENPs and microorganisms or crop plants, as well as the negative and positive impacts of the transformed ENPs are discussed in details. Special emphasis is placed on the influence of ENPs on greenhouse gas emissions from microorganisms, the transformation of ENPs in crop plants, and the effects of root exudates on ENPs cycling. Through these discussions, we proposed several important considerations in the applications and implications of ENPs ​in the environment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94356,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Environmental Health","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100145"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143784043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Role of permafrost thaw transitions in biogeochemical nitrogen cycling","authors":"Merritt N. Logan ,&nbsp;Monique S. Patzner ,&nbsp;Jacob P. VanderRoest ,&nbsp;Bridget B. McGivern ,&nbsp;Nivetha Srikanthan ,&nbsp;Myrna J. Simpson ,&nbsp;Amy M. McKenna ,&nbsp;Kelly C. Wrighton ,&nbsp;Casey Bryce ,&nbsp;Andreas Kappler ,&nbsp;Thomas Borch","doi":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100148","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100148","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Significant organic nitrogen (ON) stocks have accumulated in permafrost peatlands over millennia. Climate change is expected to increase peatland thaw, making this ON more susceptible to biogeochemical degradation. However, the interplay between thaw-released N and N cycling remains poorly understood. To elucidate ON composition across a thaw transition (palsa to thaw front to bog), we employed 21 ​T electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In addition, we performed metatranscriptomic sequencing to evaluate microbial activity changes in N cycling pathways between the palsa and bog. We observed an approximate 10-fold increase in dissolved ON and a significant rise in ammonium concentration between the palsa and thaw front. Additionally, there was a reduction in the peptide-like fraction and an increase in the aromatic fraction of dissolved ON molecules. Dissolved ON concentrations decreased by 73 ​% between the thaw front and bog, while expression of ammonium-producing genes was significantly higher in the bog compared to the palsa. Our findings highlight the release and rapid compositional shift of ON during thaw transitions. This underscores the need for further studies on thaw-released N to enhance models predicting N cycling and Arctic greenhouse gas emissions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94356,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Environmental Health","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100148"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143807713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mitigating cadmium-induced body burden for residents in southern China based on soil-food-urine system and physiologically based toxicokinetic model","authors":"Tian Zhang ,&nbsp;Meie Wang ,&nbsp;Yanling Li ,&nbsp;Guohao Xie ,&nbsp;Yao Zhang ,&nbsp;Yang Yang ,&nbsp;Weiping Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100146","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100146","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The risks of Cd intake from dietary sources are often estimated without fully considering Cd bioavailability in food. Based on the data from paired soil, vegetable, rice and urine samples from southern China, this study quantified the transfer of Cd in the soil-food-human system. There were probabilities of 75​% that the urinary Cd from local residents (3.11 ​± ​1.98 ​μg ​g⁻¹ creatinine) would exceed the safety threshold, with rice consumption being the largest contributor at 94​%. A probabilistic physiologically based toxicokinetic (PBTK) model was used to optimize the strategies for reducing the Cd body burden through the food-blood-plasma-liver-kidney pathway. The liver (21%) and kidneys (37%) are the principal sites of Cd accumulation in the humans, with age and gender being the major controlling factors. Kidney Cd significantly correlates with urinary excretion, making urinary Cd a crucial biomarker for Cd dietary intake. Adult females who consume less rice are more susceptible to Cd exposure due to lower Zn levels in their bodies, which enhance Cd absorption. Even with lower rice consumption, the reduced Zn storage in females increases the risk of Cd accumulation because Zn normally helps reduce Cd absorption. To protect 74% of adult males and 81% of adult females from excessive Cd body burden, it is recommended that local residents consume more food rich in Zn, targeting at least 6.25 ​mg Zn ​d⁻¹ for adult females and 5.15 ​mg Zn ​d⁻¹ for adult males.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94356,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Environmental Health","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100146"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143776955","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Differential impacts of organic and chemical fertilization on soil organic carbon pools and stability, and soil quality in cacao agroforestry","authors":"Joseph Osafo Eduah ,&nbsp;Alfred Arthur ,&nbsp;Ishmael Amoako-Attah ,&nbsp;Elvis Frimpong Manso ,&nbsp;Amos Kojo Quaye ,&nbsp;Jerome Agbesi Dogbatse ,&nbsp;Francis Kwame Padi","doi":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100147","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100147","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fertilization impacts soil organic carbon (SOC) and its stability, key factors for soil quality and climate change mitigation. This study assessed the long-term effects of chemical (CON) and organic (ORG) fertilizations on oxidizable SOC pools, SOC stability, and soil quality in cacao soils. Soils were sampled from 20 farms under ORG and CON at 0–15 ​cm and 15–30 ​cm depths, with an uncultivated field as a reference. SOC pools and their derived indices were analyzed, with soil quality being evaluated using a minimum dataset and principal component analysis. The SOC stock was significantly higher in ORG (60.2–69.8 ​Mg ​C ha⁻¹) than in CON (42.8–49.6 ​Mg ​C ha⁻¹). The SOC stock in ORG was largely in the active pool (54–68 ​%), while it was predominantly in the passive pool (73–74 ​%) in CON. The SOC stock and active SOC pool decreased with soil depth while the passive pool increased with soil depth. Unlike the recalcitrant index, the lability index was high in ORG (1.41–1.82) and low in CON (1.01–1.10). Consistent with the carbon management index, the soil quality index, based on SOC, microbial biomass C, pH, dehydrogenase activity, and bulk density, was higher in ORG (0.753–0.821) than that in CON (0.169–0.235), reflecting soil degradation in CON. Our study revealed that, while CON reduced SOC stock, it improved SOC stability, highlighting a trade-off between SOC quantity and resistance to decomposition. In contrast, ORG enhanced active SOC build-up and soil quality but was less effective in promoting long-term carbon sequestration. These findings highlight fertilization practices that enhance SOC lability and soil quality or improve SOC stability, providing appropriate strategies for the sustainable management of cacao agroecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94356,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Environmental Health","volume":"3 3","pages":"Article 100147"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143829225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Challenges of continuous cropping in Rehmannia glutinosa: Mechanisms and mitigation measures","authors":"Tao Gan ,&nbsp;Zhaofeng Yuan ,&nbsp;Williamson Gustave ,&nbsp;Tianyu Luan ,&nbsp;Lizhi He ,&nbsp;Zhemin Jia ,&nbsp;Xinyu Zhao ,&nbsp;Shuo Wang ,&nbsp;Yun Deng ,&nbsp;Xiaokai Zhang ,&nbsp;Feng He","doi":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100144","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.seh.2025.100144","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Rehmannia glutinosa</em> is a widely cultivated medicinal herb, which faces significant challenges due to continuous cropping obstacles (CCO). After one year of cultivating in the same field, replanting is unsuccessful for the next 8–10 years due to the accumulation of allelochemicals, deterioration of soil properties, and disruptions in soil microbial communities. These factors severely impact plant growth, quality, and overall soil health. This review examines the causes and adverse effects of CCO in <em>R. glutinosa</em> cultivation and evaluates various strategies to mitigate them. CCO arise from complex interactions between the plant root system, soil properties, and microbial communities. A key contributor is the accumulation of phenolic acids in the rhizosphere, which alters soil physicochemical properties and promotes the proliferation of root pathogens, including fungi and root-knot nematodes. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle of soil degradation and plant stress, exacerbating CCO. Approaches such as variety selection, optimized crop rotation patterns, and the application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria are discussed in the article. Additionally, soil disinfection techniques, including fumigation, organic amendments, flooding, and mulching, are reviewed for their potential to suppress pathogens and restore soil health. The role of biochar, compost, and beneficial microorganisms, applied individually or in combination, to alleviate CCO and improve soil conditions are also highlighted. This review aims to provide a theoretical framework and practical guidance for overcoming CCO in <em>R. glutinosa</em> cultivation, contributing to sustainable agricultural practices for this important medicinal crop.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94356,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Environmental Health","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100144"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143619669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}