In this study, we investigated the accumulation and transport patterns of phthalate ester (PAEs) compounds in the soil-plant system of maize and cabbage fields under different film mulching years. The total content of five PAEs in the maize fields soil ranged from 156.19 to 566.1 μg kg⁻¹ with film mulching for 0–20 years. The total content of five PAEs in the cabbage field soils ranged from 252.48 to 559.07 μg kg⁻¹ with film mulching for 0–30 years. The PAEs content in cabbage and maize field soils was lower than the environmental quality standards for soil (GB 15618-2008). With the increase in film mulching years, both maize and cabbage soil PAEs contents increased significantly (p < 0.05), while among the five PAEs, the contents of di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) increased the most significantly, and the content of DEHP in the soils was the highest. The DEHP content in soils planted with maize ranges from 134.03 to 406.79 μg kg⁻¹ with the film mulching for 20 years; while in soil planted with cabbage, it ranges from 229.35 to 405.2 μg kg⁻¹ with the film mulching for 30 years. The DEHP content in all of the soils has not exceed the limit value established by the USEPA in U.S. Five PAEs were detected in maize seeds and cabbage leaves, among which the DEHP content exceeded the maximum residue limit set by the National Food Safety Standard (GB 9685-2016) for DEHP in food after more than 10 years of mulching. The bioaccumulation and translocation factors in cabbage showed a significant positive correlation with the film mulching years. However, the bioaccumulation factor and translocation factor in maize have weak correlations with the film mulching years, possibly due to the lower PAEs content in the deep soil layers where maize roots are distributed. Our research revealed a significant association between the presence and distribution of PAEs in crops and mulching years. These novel discoveries provide fundamental information for controlling PAEs pollution in agricultural environments.

To reveal distribution characteristics of glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) and it’s influencing factors under different vegetation types in the drought-tolerant shrubland of Helan Mountain, we chose three vegetation types as study subjects: Stipa breviflora (Grassland, G), Amygdalus mongolica (Shrub, S), and Stipa breviflora-Amygdalus mongolica (Grassland-Shrub, G×S) and bare soil was used as the control (CK). The contents of easily extractable glomalin-related soil protein (EE-GRSP) and total glomalin-related soil protein (T-GRSP), soil physicochemical properties, colonization rate, spore density, and species abundance in the rhizosphere soil were determined. The results indicated that EE-GRSP and T-GRSP showed significant difference (p < 0.05) among vegetation types, with GRSP content highest under G×S (5.68 and 6.27 mg·g⁻¹, respectively) and lowest under CK (3.84 and 4.48 mg·g⁻¹, respectively). EE-GRSP/soil organic carbon (SOC) and T-GRSP/SOC showed no significant difference (p > 0.05). The trends of colonization rate, spore density, and species abundance were the same and were significantly different from those of GRSP content (p < 0.05), with maximum values of 75.6%, 20.7 × 10 g⁻¹, and 29.7, and minimum values of 55.6%, 13.0 × 10 g⁻¹, and 12.7, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis showed that EE-GRSP was significantly positively correlated with SOC, total phosphorus, available phosphorus, and colonization rate (p < 0.05), and it showed an extremely significant positive correlation with available potassium, spore density, and species abundance (p < 0.01). T-GRSP was significantly positively correlated with total phosphorus and available phosphorus (p < 0.05), as well as with soil organic carbon, available potassium, spore density, colonization rate, and species abundance (p < 0.01). The redundancy analysis (RDA) showed similar results. Therefore, the distribution characteristics of GRSP and its influencing factors under different vegetation types in the low elevation area of Helan Mountain were influenced by vegetation types, physicochemical properties of rhizosphere soil, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonization, thus providing a scientific basis for soil quality improvement and vegetation restoration.