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<abstract xmlns="http://eprints.org/ep2/data/2.0">Atmospheric mineral dust is a critical nutrient supplier to marine ecosystems, but its role in terrestrial plant nutrition remains underexplored due to the assumption that nutrients are acquired solely from soils via roots.&#13;
   Here, we demonstrate that plants directly acquire nutrients from dust through leaves, revealing an unrecognized terrestrial uptake pathway. In a Mediterranean field study simulating dust events, dust application markedly increased plant macro and micronutrient concentrations, facilitated by the mildly acidic, organic‐acid‐rich leaf microenvironment that enhances dust dissolution and nutrient release.&#13;
   By integrating field observations with dust deposition estimates and soil nutrient data from different regions, we find that annual dust‐derived inputs through leaves can account for up to 17% of soil‐derived iron fluxes in the Western United States and up to 12% of phosphorus fluxes in the Eastern Amazon. During Mediterranean dust events, daily nutrient inputs can match or exceed soil‐derived fluxes.&#13;
   Our findings suggest the major plant nutrition role of foliar dust uptake in nutrient‐poor and dust‐affected ecosystems. Such a foliar absorption pathway may become increasingly important as dust emissions and transport shift under future climate change and should be accounted for in vegetation, nutrients, and carbon‐cycle models.</abstract>
