2026 Steve P. McGrath: Plant Science and Agronomy Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Plant Science and Agronomy	140	27	26	4	4	627	72582

Research.com Recognitions

2026 - Research.com Plant Science and Agronomy in United Kingdom Leader Award
2025 - Research.com Plant Science and Agronomy in United Kingdom Leader Award
2022 - Research.com Plant Science and Agronomy in United Kingdom Leader Award

Overview

Steve P. McGrath is affiliated with Rothamsted Research in the United Kingdom. Their research spans broad areas within Agricultural and Biological Sciences and Environmental Science, with a notable focus on Soil Science, Plant Science, Pollution, Environmental Engineering, and Nutrition and Dietetics.

Their work covers multiple key topics including:

Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
Heavy metals in environment
Plant Micronutrient Interactions and Effects
Soil Geostatistics and Mapping
Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping
Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
Phosphorus and nutrient management

McGrath has published extensively, contributing to several frequent publication venues such as:

Scientific Reports (7 publications)
European Journal of Soil Science (3 publications)
PLoS ONE (3 publications)
European Journal of Agronomy (3 publications)
SOIL (2 publications)

Recent representative papers include:

Global soil pollution by toxic metals threatens agriculture and human health, 2025, Science
African soil properties and nutrients mapped at 30 m spatial resolution using two-scale ensemble machine learning, 2021, Scientific Reports
The nutritional quality of cereals varies geospatially in Ethiopia and Malawi, 2021, Nature
Plastics in biosolids from 1950 to 2016: A function of global plastic production and consumption, 2021, Water Research
What is a good level of soil organic matter? An index based on organic carbon to clay ratio, 2020, European Journal of Soil Science

Frequent co-authors collaborating with McGrath include:

Stephan M. Haefele (28 joint publications)
Keith Shepherd (12 joint publications)
Martin R. Broadley (10 joint publications)
Javier Hernández-Allica (9 joint publications)
Erick K. Towett (8 joint publications)

McGrath's research integrates soil science with environmental and plant sciences, addressing issues from soil pollution and nutrient dynamics to the geospatial variation in crop nutritional quality. Their work contributes to understanding the environmental impacts affecting agriculture and human health through studies on soil chemistry, mapping, and nutrient management.

Best Publications

Toxicity of heavy metals to microorganisms and microbial processes in agricultural soils: a review.

Ken E Giller;Ernst Witter;Steve P Mcgrath

2541
Citations
Soil Contamination in China: Current Status and Mitigation Strategies

Fang-Jie Zhao;Fang-Jie Zhao;Yibing Ma;Yong-Guan Zhu;Zhong Tang

2136
Citations
Metal hyperaccumulator plants: a review of the ecology and physiology of a biological resource for phytoremediation of metal-polluted soils

Alan J. M. Baker;S. P. McGrath;Roger D. Reeves;J. A. C. Smith

1583
Citations
Transporters of arsenite in rice and their role in arsenic accumulation in rice grain

Jian Feng Ma;Naoki Yamaji;Namiki Mitani;Xiao-Yan Xu

1562
Citations
Phytoextraction of metals and metalloids from contaminated soils.

Steve P McGrath;Fang-Jie Zhao

1461
Citations
Arsenic uptake and metabolism in plants.

F. J. Zhao;J. F. Ma;A. A. Meharg;S. P. McGrath

1366
Citations
Arsenic as a Food Chain Contaminant: Mechanisms of Plant Uptake and Metabolism and Mitigation Strategies

Fang-Jie Zhao;Steve P McGrath;Andrew A Meharg

1358
Citations
The possibility of in situ heavy metal decontamination of polluted soils using crops of metal-accumulating plants

A.J.M. Baker;S.P. McGrath;C.M.D. Sidoli;R.D. Reeves

1106
Citations
Cellular compartmentation of cadmium and zinc in relation to other elements in the hyperaccumulator Arabidopsis halleri.

Hendrik Küpper;Enzo Lombi;Fang Jie Zhao;Steve P. McGrath

894
Citations
Phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated soils: natural hyperaccumulation versus chemically enhanced phytoextraction.

E. Lombi;F.J. Zhao;S.J. Dunham;S.P. McGrath

854
Citations
Selenium uptake, translocation and speciation in wheat supplied with selenate or selenite.

Hua-Fen Li;Hua-Fen Li;Steve P. McGrath;Fang-Jie Zhao

850
Citations
Mechanisms of Arsenic Hyperaccumulation in Pteris vittata. Uptake Kinetics, Interactions with Phosphate, and Arsenic Speciation

Junru Wang;Fang-Jie Zhao;Andrew A. Meharg;Andrea Raab

802
Citations
Plant and rhizosphere processes involved in phytoremediation of metal-contaminated soils

S. P. McGrath;F. J. Zhao;E. Lombi

791
Citations
Growing Rice Aerobically Markedly Decreases Arsenic Accumulation

X. Y. Xu;S. P. McGrath;A. A. Meharg;F. J. Zhao

768
Citations
Soil pH Determines Microbial Diversity and Composition in the Park Grass Experiment

Kateryna Zhalnina;Raquel Dias;Patricia Dörr de Quadros;Patricia Dörr de Quadros;Austin Davis-Richardson

759
Citations
Leaching of heavy metals from contaminated soils using EDTA

B Sun;F.J Zhao;E Lombi;S.P McGrath

712
Citations
Phytoremediation of metals, metalloids, and radionuclides

McGrath Sp;Zhao Fj;Lombi E

710
Citations
Long-term effects of metals in sewage sludge on soils, microorganisms and plants

Steve P. McGrath;Amar M. Chaudri;Ken E. Giller

696
Citations
Effect of metal toxicity on the size of the soil microbial biomass

P. C. Brookes;S. P. McGRATH

663
Citations
A new method to measure effective soil solution concentration predicts copper availability to plants

Hao Zhang;Fang-Jie Zhao;Bo Sun;William Davison

627
Citations
Cellular Compartmentation of Zinc in Leaves of the Hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens

Hendrik Küpper;Fang Jie Zhao;Steve P. McGrath

623
Citations
Biofortification of UK food crops with selenium

Martin R. Broadley;Philip J. White;Rosie J. Bryson;Mark C. Meacham

618
Citations
Variation in mineral micronutrient concentrations in grain of wheat lines of diverse origin

F.J. Zhao;Y.H. Su;S.J. Dunham;M. Rakszegi

600
Citations
Sulphur assimilation and effects on yield and quality of wheat.

FJ Zhao;MJ Hawkesford;SP McGrath

596
Citations
Plant and rhizosphere processes involved in phytoremediation of metal-contaminated soils.

S. P. McGrath;F. J. Zhao;E. Lombi;D. S. Powlson

42
Citations