Professor Zhenci Xu is a human-environment researcher with focus on sustainable development goals, footprint, food-energy-water carbon nexus, ecosystem service, ecology as well as China development. He is interested in taking a holistic approach, such as integration of various components (e.g., agents, causes, spatial-temporal scales, effects, feedbacks, environmental and socioeconomic interactions), to address complexity of human-environment interactions and related sustainability issues such as sustainable development progress assessment, impacts of distant interactions on local sustainable development, and synergies and trade-offs between various kinds of ecosystem services
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Sustainable Development Goals
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Food-energy-water-carbon nexus
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Footprint
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China development
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Human environment interactions
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Ecology
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Ecosystem service
Selected Publications
2023
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Cao, M., Tian, Y., Wu, K., Chen, M., Chen, Y., Hu, X., Sun, Z., Zuo, L., Lin, J., Luo, L., Zhu, R., Xu, Z., Bandrova, T., Konecny, M., Yuan, W., Guo, H., Lin, H., & Lü, G. (2023). Future land-use change and its impact on terrestrial ecosystem carbon pool evolution along the Silk Road under SDG scenarios. Science Bulletin, 68(7), 740-749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2023.03.012
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Li, F., Liu, H., Wu, S., Wang, Y., Xu, Z., Yu, P., & Yan, D. (2023). A PES framework coupling socioeconomic and ecosystem dynamics from a sustainable development perspective. Journal of Environmental Management, 329, 117043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.117043
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He, L., Li, Z., Jia, Q., & Xu, Z. (2023). Soil microplastics pollution in agriculture. Science, 379(6632), 547-547. https://doi.org/doi:10.1126/science.adf6098
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Xiao, H., Bao, S., Ren, J., & Xu, Z. (2023). Transboundary impacts on SDG progress across Chinese cities: A spatial econometric analysis. Sustainable Cities and Society, 92, 104496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2023.104496
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Zhao, R., Li, X., Wang, Y., Xu, Z., Xiong, M., Jia, Q., & Li, F. (2023). Assessing resilience of sustainability to climate change in China's cities. Science of The Total Environment, 898, 165568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165568
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Wu, X., Fu, B., Wang, S., Song, S., Lusseau, D., Liu, Y., Xu, Z., & Liu, J. (2023). Bleak prospects and targeted actions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Science Bulletin, 68(22), 2838-2848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2023.09.010
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Xiong, M., Zhao, R., Li, X., Wang, Y., Xu, Z., & Li, F. (2023). Climate resilience assessment of sustainability at national level: A case study of sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Cleaner Production, 430, 139717. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.139717
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Jia, Q., Wang, Y., Xu, Z., & Li, F. (2023). Electricity outages delay SDGs in sub-Saharan Africa. Nature, 618(7963), 30. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01757-9
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Gong, P., Guo, H., Chen, B., Chen, F., He, G., Liang, D., Liu, Z., Sun, Z., Wu, J., Xu, Z., Yan, D., & Zhang, H. (2023). iEarth: an interdisciplinary framework in the era of big data and AI for sustainable development. National Science Review, 10(8), nwad178. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwad178
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Li, C., Wan, Y., Xu, Z., Fan, X., Shuai, C., Yu, X., & Tan, Y. (2023). Impacts and Pathways of the Belt and Road Initiative on Sustainable Development Goals of the Involved Countries. Sustainable Development. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2819
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Cao, M., Chen, M., Zhang, J., Pradhan, P., Guo, H., Fu, B., Li, Y., Bai, Y., Chang, L., Chen, Y., Sun, Z., Xu, Z., Zhu, R., Meadows, M. E., & Lü, G. (2023). Spatio-temporal changes in the causal interactions among Sustainable Development Goals in China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), 450. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01952-z
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Feng, C., Ye, G., Zeng, J., Zeng, J., Jiang, Q., He, L., Zhang, Y., & Xu, Z. (2023). Sustainably developing global blue carbon for climate change mitigation and economic benefits through international cooperation. Nature communications, 14(1), 6144. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41870-x
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Wu, X., Fu, B., Wang, S., Liu, Y., Yao, Y., Li, Y., Xu, Z., & Liu, J. (2023). Three main dimensions reflected by national SDG performance. Innovation (Camb), 4(6), 100507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2023.100507
2022
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Yan, D., Wu, S., Tang, Y., Zhu, J., Zhou, S., & Xu, Z. (2022). Arable land and water footprints for food consumption in China: From the perspective of urban and rural dietary change. Science of The Total Environment, 838, 155749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155749
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Xu, G., Dong, H., Xu, Z., & Bhattarai, N. (2022). China can reach carbon neutrality before 2050 by improving economic development quality. Energy, 243, 123087. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2021.123087
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Jiang, Y., Tian, S., Xu, Z., Gao, L., Xiao, L., Chen, S., Xu, K., Chang, J., Luo, Z., & Shi, Z. (2022). Decoupling environmental impact from economic growth to achieve Sustainable Development Goals in China. Journal of Environmental Management, 312, 114978. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114978
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Wu, X., Fu, B., Wang, S., Song, S., Li, Y., Xu, Z., Wei, Y., & Liu, J. (2022). Decoupling of SDGs followed by re-coupling as sustainable development progresses. Nature Sustainability, 5(5), 452-459. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00868-x
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Jiang, Q., Bhattarai, N., Pahlow, M., & Xu, Z. (2022). Environmental sustainability and footprints of global aquaculture. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 180, 106183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106183
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Jiang, Q., Xu, Z., & Zhang, H. (2022). Global impacts of COVID-19 on sustainable ocean development. The Innovation, 3(4), 100250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2022.100250
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Jiang, Q., Li, Z., Qu, S., Cui, Y., Zhang, H., & Xu, Z. (2022). High-resolution map of China's sustainability. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 178, 106092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.106092
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Zeng, Y., Ran, L., Fang, N., Wang, Z., Xu, Z., Lu, X., Yu, Q., Wang, L., Yu, S., & Shi, Z. (2022). How to balance green and grain in marginal mountainous areas? Earth's Future, e2021EF002552. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002552
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Xiao, H., Xu, Z., Ren, J., Zhou, Y., Lin, R., Bao, S., Zhang, L., Lu, S., Lee, C. K., & Liu, J. (2022). Navigating Chinese cities to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030. The Innovation, 3(5), 100288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2022.100288
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Li, C., Lin, T., Chen, Y., Yan, Y., & Xu, Z. (2022). Nonlinear impacts of renewable energy consumption on economic growth and environmental pollution across China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 368, 133183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133183
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He, L., Xu, Z., Wang, S., Bao, J., Fan, Y., & Daccache, A. (2022). Optimal crop planting pattern can be harmful to reach carbon neutrality: Evidence from food-energy-water-carbon nexus perspective. Applied Energy, 308, 118364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118364
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Shi, M., Xu, J., Liu, S., & Xu, Z. (2022). Productivity-Based Land Suitability and Management Sensitivity Analysis: The Eucalyptus E. urophylla× E. grandis Case. Forests, 13(2), 340. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020340
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Jiang, Q., Xu, Z., Ye, G., Pahlow, M., Hu, M., & Qu, S. (2022). A systematic scoping review of environmental and socio-economic effects of COVID-19 on the global ocean-human system. Science of The Total Environment, 157925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157925
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Zhou, C., Gong, M., Xu, Z., & Qu, S. (2022). Urban scaling patterns for sustainable development goals related to water, energy, infrastructure, and society in China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 185, 106443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106443
2020
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Xu, Z., Chen, X., Liu, J., Zhang, Y., Chau, S., Bhattarai, N., ... & Li, Y. (2020). Impacts of irrigated agriculture on food–energy–water–CO 2 nexus across metacoupled systems. Nature communications, 11(1), 1-12.
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Xu, Z., Chau, S.N., Chen, X….& Liu, J. Assessing progress towards sustainable development over space and time. Nature 577, 74–78 (2020) doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1846-3.
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Xu, Z., Li, Y., Chau, S. N., Dietz, T., Li, C., Wan, L., ... & Liu, J. (2020). Impacts of international trade on global sustainable development. Nature Sustainability, 1-8.
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Chen, X., Wang, P., Muhammad, T., Xu, Z., & Li, Y. (2020). Subsystem-level groundwater footprint assessment in North China Plain–The world’s largest groundwater depression cone. Ecological Indicators, 117, 106662. (as corresponding author)
2019
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Xu, Z., Paul, M., Gong, M., & Liu, J. (2019). Shift in a National Virtual Energy Network. Applied Energy, 242, 561-569.
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Xu, Z., Chen, X., Wu, S. R., Gong, M., Du, Y., Wang, J., ... & Liu, J. (2019). Spatial-temporal assessment of water footprint, water scarcity and crop water productivity in a major crop production region. Journal of Cleaner Production, 224, 375-383.
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Wang, J., Chen, X., Liu, Z., Frans, V. F., Xu, Z.*, Qiu, X., ... & Li, Y. (2019). Assessing the water and carbon footprint of hydropower stations at a national scale. Science of The Total Environment, 676, 595-612. (as corresponding author)