Publications

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Published papers

Ren, C. is highlighted throughout. Equal-contribution papers are marked “co-first author.”

2026

  1. Climate change and interprovincial trade move grain production and environmental burdens northwards in China

    Wang, C., Zhang, X., Ren, C., Xuan, X., Cheng, L., Zou, Y., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Nature Food, 7, 565–576 · 2026

  2. Cost-competitiveness of irrigation and nutrient management strategies for closing global yield gaps

    Ren, C., Rosa, L.

    Environmental Research Letters, 21, 104005 · 2026

  3. Integrated climate effects on nitrogen cycles in global grasslands

    Zheng M., Cui, J., Cheng, L., Wang S., Wang X., Xu X., Zhang, X., Wang, C., Ren, C., Gu, B.

    Science Advances, 12, eaec5940 · 2026

  4. Managing livestock farm size to reduce nitrogen loss in China

    Cheng, L., Zhang, X., Zhu, Z., Ren, C., Wang, C., Reis, S., Gu, B.

    Resources, Environment and Sustainability, 25, 100330 · 2026

  5. Reclaiming abandoned croplands to adapt wheat production to a warmer world

    He, L., Ren, C., Rosa, L.

    Communications Earth & Environment, 7, 392 · 2026

2025

  1. Inequality of global crop diversity changes driven by socioeconomic factors

    Gong, X., Ren, C., Wang, C., Gu, B.

    Science Bulletin, 70, 4230-4240 · 2025

    Co-first author

  2. Global energy and emissions of irrigation and fertilizers management for closing crop yield gaps

    Ren, C., Rosa, L.

    Environmental Research Letters, 20, 104026 · 2025

  3. Soil health contributes to variations in crop production and nitrogen use efficiency

    Xu, J., Ren, C., Zhang, X., Wang, C., Wang, S., Ma, B., He, Y., Hu, L., Liu, X., Zhang, F., Lu, L., Li, S., Zhang, J., Zhu, Y., Vitousek, P., Gu, B.

    Nature Food, 6, 597–609 · 2025

  4. Integrated irrigation and nitrogen optimization is a resource-efficient adaptation strategy for US maize and soybean production

    Ren, C., He, L., Rosa, L.

    Nature Food, 6, 389–400 · 2025

  5. Adaptive Mitigation of Warming-Induced Food Crisis and Nitrogen Pollution

    Cui, J., Gao Y., van Grinsven, H., Zheng M., Zhang X., Ren, C., Ma. T., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Environmental Science & Technology, 59, 3527-3536 · 2025

  6. Advancing Corn Yield Mapping in Kenya Through Transfer Learning

    Bohra, A., Nottmeyer, S., Ren, C., Chen, S., Ma, Y.

    Remote Sensing, 17, 1717 · 2025

2024

  1. Trade-offs in agricultural outcomes across various farm sizes

    Ren, C., He, L., Ma, Y., Reis, S., van Grinsven, H., Lam, S., Rosa, L.

    Earth Critical Zone, 1, 100007 · 2024

  2. Agricultural management practices in China enhance nitrogen sustainability and benefit human health

    Duan, J., Liu, H., Zhang, X., Ren, C., Wang, C., Cheng, L., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Nature Food, 5, 378–389 · 2024

2023

  1. Aging threatens sustainability of smallholder farming in China

    Ren, C., Zhou, X., Wang C., Guo Y., Diao Y., Shen S., Reis, S., Li, W., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Nature, 616, 96–103 · 2023

  2. Climate change unequally affects nitrogen use and losses in global croplands

    Ren, C., Zhang, X., Reis, S., Wang, S., Jin, J., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Nature Food, 4, 294–304 · 2023

  3. Driving forces of nitrogen use efficiency in Chinese croplands on county scale

    Chen, B., Ren, C., Wang, C., Duan, J., Reis, S., Gu, B.

    Environmental Pollution, 316, 120610 · 2023

  4. Cost-effective mitigation of nitrogen pollution from global croplands

    Gu, B., Zhang, X., Lam, S.K., Yu, Y., van Grinsven, H.J.M., Zhang, S., Wang, X., Bodirsky, B.L., Wang, S., Duan, J., Ren, C., Bouwman, L., de Vries, W., Xu, J., Sutton, M.A., Chen, D.

    Nature, 613, 77–84 · 2023

2022

  1. Socioeconomic barriers of nitrogen management for agricultural and environmental sustainability

    Ren, C., Zhang, X., Reis, S., Gu, B.

    Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 333, 107950 · 2022

  2. Ammonia emissions from croplands decrease with farm size in China

    Wang, C., Duan, J., Ren, C., Liu H., Reis, S., Jin, J., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Environmental Science & Technology, 56, 9915–9923 · 2022

  3. A 12% switch from monogastric to ruminant livestock production can reduce emissions and boost crop production for 525 million people

    Cheng, L., Zhang, X., Reis, S., Ren, C., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Nature Food, 3, 1040-1051 · 2022

  4. Nitrogen emissions from livestock production driven by climate and socioeconomic factors

    Cheng, L., Ren, C., Zhang, X., Gu, B.

    Journal of Agricultural Resources and Environment, 39, 510-519 · 2022

2021

  1. Consolidation of agricultural land can contribute to agricultural sustainability in China

    Duan, J., Ren, C., Wang, S., Zhang, X., Reis, S., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Nature Food, 2, 1014-1022 · 2021

    Co-first author

  2. Fertilizer overuse in Chinese smallholders due to lack of fixed inputs

    Ren, C., Jin, S., Wu, Y., Zhang, B., Kanter, D., Wu, B., Xi, X., Zhang, X., Chen, D., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Journal of Environmental Management, 293, 112913 · 2021

  3. Uncertainty of nitrogen budget in China

    Zhang, X., Ren, C., Gu, B., Chen, D.

    Environmental Pollution, 286, 117216 · 2021

  4. An empirical model to estimate ammonia emission from cropland fertilization in China

    Wang, C., Cheng, K., Ren, C., Liu, H., Sun, J., Reis, S., Yin, S., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Environmental Pollution, 288, 117982 · 2021

  5. Human-caused increases in reactive nitrogen burial in sediment of global lakes

    Wang, M., Houlton, B.Z., Wang, S., Ren, C., van Grinsven, H., Chen, D., Xu, J., Gu, B.

    Innovation, 2, 100158 · 2021

  6. Decoupling livestock and crop production at the household level in China

    Jin, S., Zhang, B., Wu, B., Han, D., Hu, Y., Ren, C., Zhang, C., Wei, X., Wu, Y., Mol, A.P.J., Reis, S., Gu, B., Chen, J.

    Nature Sustainability, 4, 48-55 · 2021

  7. Abating ammonia is more cost-effective than nitrogen oxides for mitigating PM2.5 air pollution

    Gu, B., Zhang, L., Van Dingenen, R., Vieno, M., Van Grinsven, H.J., Zhang, X., Zhang, S., Chen, Y., Wang, S., Ren, C., Rao, S., Holland, M., Winiwarter, W., Chen, D., Xu, J., Sutton, M.A.

    Science, 374, 758-762 · 2021

  8. Large-scale farming promotes agricultural green development in China

    Gu, B., Duan, J., Ren, C., Wang, S., Wang, C.

    Journal of Agricultural Resources and Environment, 38, 709-715 · 2021

2019

  1. The impact of farm size on agricultural sustainability

    Ren, C., Liu, S., van Grinsven, H., Reis, S., Jin, S., Liu, H., Gu, B.

    Journal of Cleaner Production, 220, 357-367 · 2019