journal article·2026-02Open access

Long‐Term Elevated CO 2 Improves Soil Health and Rice Yields in Paddy Fields

Fan Jiang, Wenchao Du, Kees Jan van Groenigen, Josep Peñuelas, Scott X. Chang, Lian Song, Chuang Cai, Yu Wang, Lin Deng, Zhengkun Hu, Weishou Shen, Qicong Wu, Haiyang Yu, Ying Yin, Fuxun Ai, Wei Zhou, Dongming Wang, Jianqiang Sun, Xiaoyuan Yan, Renfang Shen, Jiabao Zhang, Hongyan Guo, Chunwu Zhu

Advanced Science· Volume 13· Issue 11

Abstract

Abstract Soil health underpins the productivity and ecosystem functioning of rice paddies, yet its response to elevated atmospheric CO 2 (eCO 2 ) remains poorly understood. Here, soil health responses to eCO 2 are evaluated using the two longest‐running rice free‐air CO 2 enrichment experiments, spanning 12 and 15 years. The results show that long‐term eCO 2 significantly improves soil health, strengthening its capacity to support crop production, water purification, and climate change mitigation. Integration of global observations further indicates that these improvements are widespread and cumulative over time, with paddy soils benefiting more than other terrestrial ecosystems. Consequently, long‐term eCO 2 exposure tends to enhance rice yield gains, in contrast to the productivity plateau observed in natural ecosystems. These findings provide novel and comprehensive evidence that long‐term eCO 2 enhances paddy soil health, improving soil multifunctionality and reinforcing the rice CO 2 fertilization effect.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Plant responses to elevated CO2 · Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics · CO2 Sequestration and Geologic Interactions

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

State Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Green Resource Recycling, School of Environment Nanjing University Nanjing 210023 China

School of Environment Nanjing Normal University Nanjing 210023 China

Department of Geography, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy University of Exeter Exeter EX4 4QJ UK

CSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF‐CSIC‐UAB Bellaterra Barcelona 08193 Spain

CREAF Cerdanyola del Vallès Barcelona 08193 Spain

Department of Renewable Resources University of Alberta Alberta T6G 2R3 Canada

State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing 211135 China

College of Resources and Environmental Sciences Nanjing Agricultural University Nanjing 210095 China

School of Environmental Science and Engineering Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology Nanjing 210044 China

College of Forestry Shandong Agricultural University Taian 271018 China

Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment Chinese Academy of Sciences Xiamen 361012 China

Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing 100081 China

College of Environment Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou 310014 China

Funding

National Key Research and Development Program of China · Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province · National Natural Science Foundation of China

References (69)

Show source-provided references
1. 10.1038/s43017-023-00482-110.1038/s43017-023-00482-1 ↗
2. 10.1038/s43016-024-01021-x10.1038/s43016-024-01021-x ↗
3. 10.1111/gcb.1537510.1111/gcb.15375 ↗
4. 10.1038/s43016-020-00195-410.1038/s43016-020-00195-4 ↗
5. 10.1073/pnas.100646310710.1073/pnas.1006463107 ↗
6. 10.1038/s41586-024-07491-010.1038/s41586-024-07491-0 ↗
7. 10.1126/science.abb777210.1126/science.abb7772 ↗
8. 10.1126/sciadv.aaz183410.1126/sciadv.aaz1834 ↗
9. 10.1038/s41893-023-01154-010.1038/s41893-023-01154-0 ↗
10. 10.1038/s41558-024-01973-910.1038/s41558-024-01973-9 ↗
11. 10.1111/ele.1307810.1111/ele.13078 ↗
12. 10.1038/s41561-022-01105-y10.1038/s41561-022-01105-y ↗
13. 10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.11462110.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114621 ↗
14. 10.1038/s41561-023-01302-310.1038/s41561-023-01302-3 ↗
15. 10.1016/j.soilbio.2022.10871010.1016/j.soilbio.2022.108710 ↗
16. 10.1021/acs.est.2c0451610.1021/acs.est.2c04516 ↗
17. 10.2136/sssaj2004.194510.2136/sssaj2004.1945 ↗
18. 10.1038/s43017-020-0080-810.1038/s43017-020-0080-8 ↗
19. 10.1111/gcb.1710810.1111/gcb.17108 ↗
20. 10.1038/s41559-024-02511-810.1038/s41559-024-02511-8 ↗
21. 10.1038/s41558-022-01376-810.1038/s41558-022-01376-8 ↗
22. 10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.10811110.1016/j.soilbio.2020.108111 ↗
23. 10.1038/s41579-019-0265-710.1038/s41579-019-0265-7 ↗
24. 10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.07.00810.1016/j.soilbio.2017.07.008 ↗
25. 10.1111/nph.1629810.1111/nph.16298 ↗
26. 10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.01.03010.1016/j.soilbio.2018.01.030 ↗
27. 10.1038/s41586-021-03306-810.1038/s41586-021-03306-8 ↗
28. 10.1126/science.aaf461010.1126/science.aaf4610 ↗
29. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.16548410.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165484 ↗
30. 10.1016/j.scib.2024.02.02710.1016/j.scib.2024.02.027 ↗
31. 10.1016/j.agee.2021.10779810.1016/j.agee.2021.107798 ↗
32. 10.1038/s41559-019-0958-310.1038/s41559-019-0958-3 ↗
33. 10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.10.00510.1016/j.soilbio.2018.10.005 ↗
34. 10.1038/s41561-023-01225-z10.1038/s41561-023-01225-z ↗
35. 10.1111/gcb.1658410.1111/gcb.16584 ↗
36. 10.1186/s40168-021-01203-w10.1186/s40168-021-01203-w ↗
37. 10.1111/gcb.1559510.1111/gcb.15595 ↗
38. 10.1016/j.geoderma.2021.11512110.1016/j.geoderma.2021.115121 ↗
39. 10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.10897210.1016/j.soilbio.2023.108972 ↗
40. 10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.06.01010.1016/j.soilbio.2016.06.010 ↗
41. 10.1126/science.124953410.1126/science.1249534 ↗
42. 10.1038/nclimate243610.1038/nclimate2436 ↗
43. 10.1016/j.catena.2025.10927910.1016/j.catena.2025.109279 ↗
44. 10.1002/advs.20230817610.1002/advs.202308176 ↗
45. 10.1038/s41586-020-2128-910.1038/s41586-020-2128-9 ↗
46. 10.1073/pnas.141426111210.1073/pnas.1414261112 ↗
47. 10.1038/s41558-021-00989-910.1038/s41558-021-00989-9 ↗
48. 10.1038/s41558-019-0545-210.1038/s41558-019-0545-2 ↗
49. 10.1111/gcb.1217710.1111/gcb.12177 ↗
50. 10.1126/sciadv.abn005410.1126/sciadv.abn0054 ↗
51. 10.1038/nclimate323510.1038/nclimate3235 ↗
52. 10.1073/pnas.242455212210.1073/pnas.2424552122 ↗
53. 10.1111/nph.1383810.1111/nph.13838 ↗
54. 10.1111/gcb.1560710.1111/gcb.15607 ↗
55. 10.1038/s41558-021-01156-w10.1038/s41558-021-01156-w ↗
56. 10.1016/j.oneear.2024.07.02010.1016/j.oneear.2024.07.020 ↗
57. 10.1016/S2542-5196(25)00055-510.1016/S2542-5196(25)00055-5 ↗
58. 10.1021/acs.est.2c0437810.1021/acs.est.2c04378 ↗
59. 10.1038/s41559-022-01811-110.1038/s41559-022-01811-1 ↗
60. Moebius‐Clune B. N. · 2016
61. 10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.12.02410.1016/j.geoderma.2017.12.024 ↗
62. 10.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[1150:TMAORR]2.0.CO;210.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[1150:TMAORR]2.0.CO;2 ↗
63. 10.1093/jpe/rtac09610.1093/jpe/rtac096 ↗
64. 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2003.tb02228.x10.1111/j.1654-1103.2003.tb02228.x ↗
65. 10.1038/ismej.2017.9110.1038/ismej.2017.91 ↗
66. 10.1016/j.funeco.2015.06.00610.1016/j.funeco.2015.06.006 ↗
67. 10.1093/bioinformatics/btu49410.1093/bioinformatics/btu494 ↗
68. 10.18637/jss.v059.i0510.18637/jss.v059.i05 ↗
69. 10.1093/nar/gkw25310.1093/nar/gkw253 ↗