journal article·2026-05Open access

An Increasing Misalignment Between Crop Distribution and Environmental Resources Under Climate Change in China

Zheng'e Su, Zhentao Zhang, Jin Zhao, Xia Liang, Chuang Zhao, Zhijuan Liu, Minghao Zhuang, Jing Sun, Bo Lu, Ke Liu, Johannes W. M. Pullens, Matthew T. Harrison, Deli Chen, Xiaoguang Yang

Advanced Science· Volume 13· Issue 27

Abstract

ABSTRACT Understanding local environmental resources is key to easing resource pressure and achieving sustainable crop production under climate change. Using multi‐source data and a crop model, the integrated environmental resource endowment, encompassing climatic conditions, blue water availability and soil properties, for maize and wheat, and how harvest areas align with these resources is quantified. Over the past 20 years, maize shifted northward with climate changes, while wheat's high endowment regions moved west but its harvest area moved east. Notably, both crops show increasing spatial misalignment with water resources, with about 84% of maize and 90% of wheat areas facing water scarcity and requiring extra water to maintain yields. This growing mismatch between where crops are grown and where resources, especially water, are abundant highlights the need for smarter, resource‐informed crop placement and water management. Aligning crops with local environmental capacity represents an opportunity to ease pressure on finite resources, strengthen food security, protect ecosystems, and ensure long‐term economic sustainability.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Climate change impacts on agriculture · Energy Efficiency in Computing · Plant responses to elevated CO2

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

Affiliations

College of Resources and Environmental Sciences China Agricultural University Beijing China

Sanya Institute of China Agricultural University Sanya China

School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences (SAFES), Faculty of Science The University of Melbourne Parkville Victoria Australia

State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco‐Environmental Sciences Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China

State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi‐arid Arable Land in Northern China, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing China

State Key Laboratory of Climate System Prediction and Risk Management/China Meteorological Administration Climate Studies Key Laboratory, National Climate Centre China Meteorological Administration Beijing China

Hebei Key Laboratory of Meteorological Artificial Intelligence/FDU‐XMetAI Joint Lab on Earth System Intellegent Prediction Xiong'an Institute of Meteorological Artificial Intelligence Xiong'an New Area China

Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters(CIC‐FEMD) Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology Nanjing China

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture University of Tasmania Launceston Tasmania Australia

Department of Agroecology Aarhus University Tjele Denmark

iCLIMATE ‐ Aarhus University Interdisciplinary Centre for Climate Change Aarhus University Tjele Denmark

Funding

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

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