Dust storms include particulate matter that is transported over land and sea with biota that could impact downwind ecosystems. In addition to the physico-chemical compositions, organismal diversities of dust from two storm events in southern Israel, December 2012 (Ev12) and January 2013 (Ev13), were determined by pyro-sequencing using primers universal to 16S and 18S rRNA genes and compared. The bio-assemblages in the collected dust samples were affiliated with scores of different taxa. Distinct patterns of richness and diversity of the two events were influenced by the origins of the air masses: Ev13 was rich with reads affiliated to Betaproteobacteria and Embryophyta, consistent with a European origin. Ev12, originated in north-Africa, contained significantly more of the Actinobacteria and fungi, without conifers. The abundance of bacterial and eukaryotic reads demonstrates dissemination of biological material in dust that may impose health hazards of pathogens and allergens, and influence vegetation migration throughout the world.

Many soils throughout the world are currently associated with soil erosion by wind and dust emissions. Dust emission processes have major implications for loss of soil resources (such as clays and nutrients) and human exposure to air pollution. This work provides a review on field experiments of dust emission based on previous studies, with new insight into the role of soil aggregation. The work focuses on dust processes in semi-arid soils that are subjected to increased agricultural land use. A boundary-layer wind tunnel has been used to study dust emission and soil loss by simulation and quantification of high-resolution wind processes. Field experiments were conducted in soil plots representing long-term and short-term influences of land uses such as agriculture, grazing, and natural preserves. The results show the impacts of soil disturbances by human activities on the soil aggregation and dust fluxes and provide quantitative estimates of soil loss over time. Substantial loss of PM10 (particulate matter [PM] that is less than 10 micrometers in diameter) was recorded in most experimental conditions. The measured PM10 fluxes highlight the significant implications for soil nutrient resources in annual balance and management strategies, as well as for PM loading to the atmosphere and the risk of air pollution.

Quantitative information on the contribution of dust storms to atmospheric PM₁₀ (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 µm) levels is still lacking, especially in urban environments with close proximity to dust sources. The main objective of this study was to quantify the contribution of dust storms to PM₁₀ concentrations in a desert urban center, the city of Beer-Sheva, Negev, Israel, during the period of 2001–2012. Toward this end, a background value based on the “dust-free” season was used as a threshold value to identify potentially “dust days.” Subsequently, the net contribution of dust storms to PM₁₀ was assessed. During the study period, daily PM₁₀ concentrations ranged from 6 to over 2000 µg/m³. In each year, over 10% of the daily concentrations exceeded the calculated threshold (BV_t) of 71 µg/m³. An average daily net contribution of dust to PM₁₀ of 122 µg/m³ was calculated for the entire study period based on this background value. Furthermore, a dust storm intensity parameter (Ai) was used to analyze several storms with very high PM₁₀ contributions (hourly averages of 1000–5197 μg/m³). This analysis revealed that the strongest storms occurred mainly in the last 3 yr of the study. Finally, these findings indicate that this arid urban environment experiences high PM₁₀ levels whose origin lies in both local and regional dust events.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential element in terrestrial ecosystems. Knowledge on the role of dust in the biogeochemical cycling of phosphorus is very limited with no quantitative information on aeolian (by wind) P fluxes from soils. The aim of this study is to focus on P cycling via dust emissions under common land-use practices in an arid environment by integration of sample analyses and aeolian experiments. The experiments indicate significant P fluxes by PM₁₀ dust due to agricultural land use. Even in a single wind-dust event at moderate velocity (7.0 m s⁻¹), P flux in conventional agricultural fields can reach 1.83 kg km⁻², that accumulates to a considerable amount per year at a regional scale. The results highlight a negative yearly balance in P content (up to hundreds kg km⁻²) in all agricultural soils, and thus more P nutrition is required to maintain efficient yield production. In grazing areas where no P nutrition is applied, the soil degradation process can lead to desertification. Emission of P from soil dust sources has significant implications for soil nutrient resources and management strategies in agricultural regions as well as for loading to the atmosphere and global biogeochemical cycles.