Jiaen Zhang’s research while affiliated with South China Agricultural University and other places

... To assess ecological benefits, scholars have employed the life cycle assessment (LCA) method (Xing et al., 2022), the emergy method , and the equivalence factor method (Jia et al., 2021) to analyze the impact of combined planting-breeding modes on soil microbial communities (Bashir et al., 2020), soil biodiversity and functions (Feng et al., 2023), ecological footprint (Xian et al., 2023), and ecosystem services , and concluded that combined planting-breeding modes can effectively reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides (Kang et al., 2024), improve soil quality (Li et al., 2025), and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Fang et al., 2023). For instance, Ye et al. (2024) compared the ecosystem service values (ESVs) of rice-fish-water spinach system, rice-fish system, rice monoculture through a field experiment. They discovered that the net ESVs of the rice-fish-water spinach system and the rice-fish system increased by 31.4% and 14.1%, respectively, compared with the rice monoculture. ...

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Research on the ecological–economic effects of combined planting–breeding modes: a case study of Zizania latifolia–shelduck in China

... These mixed findings suggest that further research is needed to better understand crop responses to manure application and to assess its use on a large scale. The agronomic effects of manure on crop yield must also be considered in relation to the physicochemical and biological properties of the soil, which are significantly influenced by organic fertilizer application (Jia et al., 2024) and will, in turn, affect crop yield. However, the consistency of any trends across various agricultural systems and geographic regions remains unclear. ...

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The effect of substituting inorganic fertilizer with manure on soil N₂O and CH₄ emissions and crop yields: A global meta-analysis

... However, irrigation represents the highest energy-intensive boundary through water intake, water delivery, and water use in the grain crop production system, with an average energy consumption of 11.4 ± 1.1 GJ ha −1 . Consequently, water scarcity is a critical factor limiting agricultural water-soil matching in the NCP [4,38]. Changes in precipitation are expected to reshape water demand and availability between rainfed and irrigated agriculture, such as wheat [7], further modifying the regional water-soil matching dynamics. ...

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The Water–Soil Resource Matching Pattern of Grain Crops in the North China Plain from the Perspective of the Physical Water–Water Footprint

... To analyze within-sample diversity or alpha diversity, indicators such as Simpson, Shannon, Chao1, and observed species were monitored. For between-sample diversity, or beta diversity, principal component analysis (PCA), principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analyses were conducted, relying on both weighted and unweighted UniFrac distances, as well as the Bray-Curtis distance metric [34,35]. Rarefaction curves were also used to undergo depth sequencing analysis, which was enough to capture microbial diversity. ...

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Evaluating the Effect of Dietary Protein-Energy Ratios on Yak Intestinal Microbiota Using High-Throughput 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing

... This, in turn, significantly improves the soil's ability to buffer against acidification (Zhang et al., 2023b). Additionally, biochar not only increases soil CEC and Zeta potential by raising soil pH and anionic activity, but also the rich base ions within biochar can further enhance the soil's ability to buffer against acidification (Abdo et al., 2024;Hailegnaw et al., 2019). The functional groups on biochar's surface influence the distribution of electrical charges across the surface (electrostatic potential) and the energy levels of its HOMO and LUMO. ...

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Density functional theory calculation for understanding the roles of biochar in immobilizing exchangeable Al3 + and enhancing soil quality in acidic soils

... While deterministic processes are driven by specific, non-random factors that shape community composition in a more predictable manner [26]. Both stochastic and deterministic processes play crucial roles in the assembly of microbial communities, including the fish gut microbiota [27][28][29][30]. However, whether the balance between stochastic and deterministic processes in the snail gut microbiota is associated with snail fitness remains unclear. ...

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Stochastic processes govern gut bacterial community assembly in a Schistosoma mansoni-transmitting snail, Biomphalaria straminea

... Furthermore, there are few studies addressing the interactions between micro(nano)plastics and soil microbial communities under environmental stresses, such as drought (Liu et al., 2024b;Lozano et al., 2021a;Lozano et al., 2024), elevated CO 2 Xu et al., 2023), and nitrogen deposition (Zhang S. et al., 2023). Therefore, investigating the effects of these environmental stressors on the interactions between micro(nano)plastics and soil microbial communities is crucial for understanding the potential risks associated with plastic pollution in terrestrial ecosystems. ...

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Global perspective of ecological risk of plastic pollution on soil microbial communities

... Different crops have distinct needs for water, light, and nutrients, and cultivating them together can lead to a more efficient use of these resources. [60] The mechanism behind this efficiency lies in the complementary growth patterns and resource requirements of the intercropped species. For instance, deeper-rooted crops can access nutrients from lower soil layers, while shallowrooted crops use nutrients from the topsoil. ...

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Crop Diversification for Ensuring Sustainable Agriculture, Risk Management and Food Security

... The grains that make up Type 1 are characterized by the lowest presence of defects, indicating better quality compared to the other types. The physical classification, in addition to impacting the subsequent processing of rice, such as cooking time, final texture, and nutritional value, directly determines the product's market value (Sharma & Khanna, 2020;Lu et al., 2024). The moisture content ranged from 11.19% (Type 1) to 12.65% (Type 5), with an average of 11.94%, which is below the minimum limit of 12% of the ideal range to optimize and reduce grain breakage during processing (12-14%) (Alim et al., 2024). ...

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Evaluation of the quality and classification of parboiled rice using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and multivariate statistical analyses

... Earthworms play a vital role in maintaining the health and function of various soil ecosystems (Chen et al. 2024b). As a foundational species in terrestrial food chains, the decline or destruction of earthworm populations can significantly compromise soil fertility, potentially disrupting the entire food web and triggering severe ecological consequences (Su et al. 2023). ...

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Enzymatic activity and gene expression changes in the earthworms induced by co-exposure to beta-cypermethrin and triadimefon