Aligning Nitrogen Form With Rice Preference Through Enhanced-Efficiency Fertilizers Raises Yield and Cuts Emissions Shending Chen, Chen Wang, Xiuming Zhang, Jinglan Cui, Jinbo Zhang, et al. Global Change Biology, 2026 Rice sustains nearly half of the global population, yet its nitrogen (N) use efficiency remains low, undermining both food security and environmental integrity. Rice predominantly absorbs ammonium (NH 4 + ), which is readily nitrified and lost through irrigation and drainage, posing a persistent management challenge. Integrating 1756 paired field observations and global modelling, we show that using enhanced‐efficiency fertilizers to maintain soil NH 4 + relative to conventional practices increases rice yield by 6%–10% and N use efficiency by 18%–33%, while reducing ammonia (NH 3 ) volatilization by 16%–50%, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions by 25%–49%, and methane (CH 4 ) emissions by 9%–30%. This N transformation‐based management could reduce global N fertilizer inputs by 1.4 ± 0.06 million tonnes (Tg), generate an additional 72 ± 13 Tg of rice, and lower N 2 O, CH 4 , and NH 3 emissions by 0.07 ± 0.02, 6.8 ± 2.0, and 0.6 ± 0.2 Tg, respectively, equivalent to an annual reduction of about 202 Tg CO 2 ‐eq. The total social benefit is valued at US$51 ± 5 billion, including US$29 ± 2 billion in added food value, achieved with only US$1.6 ± 0.6 billion in fertilizer investment and US$0.9 ± 0.1 billion in transaction costs. Aligning N transformation processes with crop N preference thus represents a pivotal strategy for sustaining rice productivity while minimizing environmental impacts.
Asymmetry of safeguarding regional air and water nitrogen boundaries in China Yiyang Zou, Xiuming Zhang, Xin Xu, Jiami Wu, Luxi Cheng, et al. National Science Review, 2026 Human activities have significantly disrupted the global nitrogen cycle, positioning it as one of the most severely surpassed planetary boundaries. As the country with the largest nitrogen flux, China faces numerous environmental challenges due to excessive losses of reactive nitrogen (Nr) to both air and water from various sources. By quantifying the regional nitrogen boundaries for air and water at the county level, we found that the aggregated regional safe boundaries in China for the atmospheric release of Nr, nitrogen runoff to surface water and leaching to groundwater are 14.6, 5.2 and 4.8 million tonnes per year, respectively. In 2020, the cumulative Nr losses exceeded these boundaries by 54%, 262% and 258%, respectively. Implementing cross-system technical mitigation measures could potentially halve the total Nr losses to both air and water, yielding benefits that are ∼2.5 times greater than the net implementation costs. Despite most counties being capable of meeting the emission boundary for the atmospheric release of Nr after abatement, the boundaries for surface water and groundwater remain exceeded in over half of the counties. This highlights a significant asymmetry in nitrogen-pollution control between air and water, further necessitating socioeconomic transformations to effectively address the persistent issue of water pollution in China.
