Kai Yang, born in 1980, Researcher Fellow, Doctoral Supervisor. Recipient of the National Excellent Youth Fund and the Liaoning Provincial Outstanding Youth Fund. She has published more than 30 papers as first author or corresponding author in journals including Nature Climate Change. She has conducted systematic research on the mechanisms and applications of soil quality improvement in forest ecosystems. She has also proposed key indicators for evaluating forest soil quality, clarified the new mechanism of mycorrhizal-driven plant-soil carbon trade-off in forests under global change, and revealed the soil quality improvement model through tree species-soil feedback. Her work has advanced the theory of forest carbon sequestration and provided technical support for the improvement of forest soil quality.

1998.09-2002.07 B.S., Shenyang agriculture college of the land and the environment, Shenyang Agricultural University；
2002.09-2005.07 M.S., Shenyang agriculture college of the land and the environment, Shenyang Agricultural University；
2006.09-2009.07 Ph.D., Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

2009.07-2011.11 Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Forest Soil

1. Second Class Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award (5th participant),
2. Chinese Academy of Sciences Award for Science and Technology Promotion to Development (5th participant),
3. First Class Prize of Liaoning Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award twice (4th participant),
4. Top Ten Outstanding Young Scientists of the 15th Liaoning Outstanding Science and Technology Youth Award,
5. Young Top Talent of Liaoning Province’s "Xingliao Talents Program",
6. Selected as a Thousand-Level Talent in the Liaoning Provincial Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talent Project,
7. Liaoning Provincial Excellent Science and Technology Worker.

1. Bureau of Frontier Science and Education, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Project of the Stable Support Program for Youth Teams in Basic Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. YSBR-037: Formation and Stability Mechanisms of Soil Carbon Sinks in Typical Forests. 07 2022 – 07 2027.
2. Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China. Subproject of the National Key R&D Program of China, No. 2022YFF1300501: Formation and Maintenance Mechanisms of Forest Ecosystem Services in Northeast China. 09 2022 – 08 2026.

1、Yang Kai#; Zhang Qian#; Zhu Jiaojun*; Wang Qiqi; Gao Tian; Wang G Geoff; Mycorrhizal type regulates trade-offs between plant and soil carbon in forests, Nature Climate Change, 2024, 14: 91-97.
2、Yang Kai; Zhu Jiaojun*; Zhang Weiwei; Zhang Qian; Lu Deliang; Zhang Yakun; Zheng Xiao; Xu Shuang; Wang G Geoff; Litter decomposition and nutrient release from monospecific and mixed litters: Comparisons of litter quality, fauna and decomposition site effects, Journal of Ecology, 2022, 110(7): 1673-1686.
3、Yang Kai#; Diao Mengmeng#; Zhu Jiaojun*; Lu Deliang; Zhang Weidong; A global meta-analysis of indicators for assessing forest soil quality through comparison between paired plantations versus natural forests, Land Degradation & Development, 2022, 33(17): 3603-3616.
4、Yang Kai; Zhu Jiaojun*; Zhang Weiwei; Gu Jiacun; Wang Zhengquan; Xu Shuang; Comparison of soil chemical and microbial properties in monoculture larch and mixed plantations in a temperate forest ecosystem in Northeast China, Ecological Processes, 2022, 11: 1-11
5、Zhu Yuan; Zhu Jiaojun*; Sun Xueyi; Teng Dexiong; Gao Tian; Sun Yirong; Yu Fengyuan; Hu Yanyang; Liu Huaqi; Yang Kai*; Carbon sink and its uncertainty for secondary forest ecosystems in Northeast China, Jounal of Forestry Research, 2026, 37.
6、Zhang Qian; Yang Kai*; Zhu Jiaojun; Su Yingjia; Zhou Changjian; Non-additive effects of different litter mixtures on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics controlled by litter functional identity and diversity across two soils in the temeprate forests of northeastern China, Ecological Processes, 2026, 15.
7、Zhang Qian; Yang Kai*; Zhou Changjian; Su Yingjia; Xu Shuang; Zhu Jiaojun; Effects of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica reforestration on soil properties after 30 years of postfire recovery-comparison with old-growth natural forests, Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, 2026, 99.
8、Zhang Yakun; Miao Chen; Zhu Jiaojun; Gao Tian; Sun Yirong; Zhang Jinxin; Xu Shuang; Yang Kai*; The impact of landslides on chemical and microbial properties of soil in a temperate secondary forest ecosystem, Journal of Forestry Research, 2022.9, 33: 1913-1923.
9、Zhang Weiwei#; Yang Kai#; Lyu Zhitang#; Zhu Jiaojun*; Microbial groups and their functions control the decomposition of coniferous litter：A comparison with broadleaved tree litters, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2019, 133: 196-207.
10、Diao Mengmeng#; Yang Kai#; Zhu Jiaojun*; Li Mingcai; Xu Shuang; Native broad-leaved tree species play key roles on maintaining soil chemical and microbial properties in a temperate secondary forest, Northeast China, Forest Ecology and Management, 2020, 462.