Abstract
This study examines whether bulk soil nutrient pools reliably reflect leaf nutrient status in olive orchards under alkaline, calcareous conditions, where carbonate buffering is known to constrain nutrient availability. We evaluated soil–leaf nutrient relationships in 25 rainfed olive orchards (‘Kilis Yaglik’) in southeastern Türkiye over two consecutive years (2017–2018). Soils remained strongly alkaline and highly calcareous, while organic matter declined by approximately 35% between years. Leaf nutrient composition did not consistently track soil nutrient dynamics. While some soil nutrients exhibited interannual variation, corresponding leaf responses were element-specific and not uniformly aligned with soil changes. Correlation and principal component analyses revealed variable and year-dependent associations between soil and leaf nutrients, with no reproducible, strong soil–leaf relationships across years. These findings indicate that, under carbonate-buffered conditions, bulk soil nutrient pools are not reliable predictors of canopy nutrient status. Instead, leaf nutrient composition appears to reflect integrated and element-specific availability patterns rather than direct soil–plant coupling.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Kilis 7 Aralık University, for providing laboratory facilities and technical assistance throughout this research. This publication is based on the MSc thesis entitled “Nutritional Status of Olive Orchards and Relationship Between Soil and Plant in the Kilis Region” conducted by Ahmet Kılıç under the supervision of Dr. Hakan Çetinkaya. The authors used ChatGPT (OpenAI) and DeepL write for language editing and clarity improvement. The authors take full responsibility for the content of this manuscript.
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Cetinkaya, H., Kılıç, A., Türker, S. et al. Linking soil physicochemical properties to leaf nutrient composition in olive orchards on semi-arid calcareous soils.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-54157-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-54157-0
Keywords
- Calcareous soils
- Leaf–soil nutrient relations
- Micronutrient balance
Olea europaea
- Semi-arid Mediterranean systems
Source: Ecology - nature.com
