My research focuses on nutrient cycling and ecological restoration in mountain ecosystems. Ongoing work encompasses:

(1) Elucidating the mechanisms by which plant nutrient-acquisition strategies regulate nutrient cycling.

(2) Applying plant nutrient-acquisition strategies to the restoration and functional recovery of degraded mountain ecosystems.

(3) Developing technological approaches for mobilizing legacy phosphorus in agricultural soils.

2002.9--2006.7    Lanzhou University                                                Bachelor of Physical Geograpy;

2006.9-2009.7     University of Chinese Academy of Sciences          Master Degree of  Physical Geograpy;

2011.9-2014.7     University of Chinese Academy of Sciences          PhD.

Title of doctoral thesis: "Weathering, pedogenesis and changes of soil phosphorus speciation of Hailuogou Glacier foreland chronosequence".

2025.12-- Professor, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences  (CAS)

2017.10-- 2025.12   Associate Professor, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS

2010.3--2017.10   Assistant Professor, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS

2018.2-- 2019.2      Visiting Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia

1. Zhou, J., Li, X.-L., Peng, F., Li, C., Lai, C., You, Q., Xue, X., Wu, Y., Sun, H., Chen, Y., Zhong, H., & Lambers, H. (2021). Mobilization of soil phosphate after 8 years of warming is linked to plant phosphorus-acquisition strategies in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Global Change Biology, 27(24), 6578–6591. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15914
2. Li, X.-L., Zhou, J.*, Du, H.-Q., Peng, F., Zhong, H., Wu, Y., Luo, J., Sun, S., Ming, Y.-X., Sun, H., Chen, Y., Wasaki, J., & Lambers, H. (2025). Plant nutrient-acquisition strategies contribute to species replacement during primary succession. Journal of Ecology, 113(4), 988–1003. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.70017
3. Li, X.-L., Sun, H., Zhou, J.*, Chen, Y., Du, H.-Q., Ming, Y.-X., Wu, S., & Lambers, H. (2025). Acidification associated with plant phosphorus-acquisition strategies decreases nutrient cycling potential of rhizosphere bacteria along the Hailuogou post-glacial chronosequence. Plant and Soil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-025-07445-z
4. Li, X.-L., Zhou, J.*, Peng, F., Zhong, H.-T., & Lambers, H. (2021). Temporal trends of plant nutrient-acquisition strategies with soil age and their ecological significance. Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology, 45(7), 714. https://doi.org/10.17521/cjpe.2021.0160
5. Zhong, H., San Wong, W., Zhou, J.*, Cross, A. T., & Lambers, H. (2023). Restoration on magnetite mine waste substrates using Western Australian native plants only marginally benefited from a commercial inoculant. Ecological Engineering, 192, 106991.
6. Zhong, H., & Zhou, J. *(2022). Response to Ding et al.: Carboxylate exudation promotes C sequestration in dryland ecosystems. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 37(1), 12–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2021.10.006
7. Zhong, H.#, Zhou, J#., Azmi, A., Arruda, A. J., Doolette, A. L., Smernik, R. J., & Lambers, H. (2021). Xylomelum occidentale (Proteaceae) accesses relatively mobile soil organic phosphorus without releasing carboxylates. Journal of Ecology, 109(1), 246–259. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13468
8. Zhou, J., Bing, H., Wu, Y., Sun, H., & Wang, J. (2018). Weathering of primary mineral phosphate in the early stages of ecosystem development in the Hailuogou Glacier foreland chronosequence. European Journal of Soil Science, 69(3), 450–461. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12536
9. Zhou, J., Bing, H., Wu, Y., Yang, Z., Wang, J., Sun, H., Luo, J., & Liang, J. (2016). Rapid weathering processes of a 120-year-old chronosequence in the Hailuogou Glacier foreland, Mt. Gongga, SW China. Geoderma, 267, 78–91.
10. Lai, C., Hu, Q., Sun, J., Li, C., Chen, X., Chen, B., Xue, X., Chen, J., Hou, F., Xu, G., Du, W., Stevens, C., Peng, F.*, & Zhou, J.* (2024). Varying soil moisture and pH with alpine meadow degradation affect nitrogen preference of dominant species. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 60(8), 1041–1053. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-024-01853-6
11. Zhou, J., Wu, Y., Bing, H., Yang, Z., Wang, J., Sun, H., Sun, S., & Luo, J. (2016). Variations in soil phosphorus biogeochemistry across six vegetation types along an altitudinal gradient in SW China. Catena, 142, 102–111.
12. Zhou, J., Wu, Y., Prietzel, J., Bing, H., Yu, D., Sun, S., Luo, J., & Sun, H. (2013). Changes of soil phosphorus speciation along a 120-year soil chronosequence in the Hailuogou Glacier retreat area (Gongga Mountain, SW China). Geoderma, 195–196, 251–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.12.010
13. Zhou, J., Wu, Y., Turner, B. L., Sun, H., Wang, J., Bing, H., Luo, J., He, X., Zhu, H., & He, Q. (2019). Transformation of soil organic phosphorus along the Hailuogou post-glacial chronosequence, southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Geoderma, 352, 414–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.05.038
14. Zhou, J., Zúñiga-Feest, A., & Lambers, H. (2020). In the beginning, there was only bare regolith—Then some plants arrived and changed the regolith. Journal of Plant Ecology, 13(5), 511–516. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtaa030
15. Du H Q, Sun H, Zhou J*, Zhong H, Li X L, Wu S, Peng F, Turner B L, Lambers H. Microbial mechanisms enhancing soil phosphorus bioavailability through vermicompost application for sustainable agriculture. ENGINEERING Agriculture, 2026, 13(4): 26672.

1. Key biological mechanisms underlying the build-up of soil organic phosphorus pools during the initial stage of pedogenesis along a postglacial chronosequence in Mt. Gongga, Granted by NSFC, 2025-2028;
2. Roles of carboxylate-releasing phosphorus-acquisition strategies of Chinese and Japanese native Cyperaceae in mobilizing phosphates in extreme environments, Granted by NSFC-JSPS, 2023-2025;
3. Key Technologies for Rapid Synergistic Enhancement of Topsoil Reconstruction, Carbon Sequestration, and Soil Fertility in Non-grain Croplands of the Chengdu Plain, Granted by Sichuan Science and Technology Program, 2024-2025;
4. Roles and mechanisms of plant nutrient acquisition strategies in soil phosphate transformations during the early stage of pedogenesis in Mt. Gongga glacier foreland, Granted by NSFC, 2021-2024;
5. Mineralization of soil organic phosphorus and its key mechanisms during pedogenesis in glacier retreat area, Granted by NSFC, 2019-2022;
6. Biogeochemical cycling of soil phosphorus and its spatial difference along altitudinal gradient in eastern slope of Gongga Mountain, Granted by NSFC, 2017-2021;
7. Transformations and key mechanisms of soil organic phosphorus during the initial stage of pedogenesis evaluated by 31-P and 13-C NMR spectroscopy, Granted by NSFC​, 2015-2017;
8. Formation of clay during the initial stage of pedogenesis in the Hailuogou Glacier foreland chronosequence, Granted by CAS, 2014-2016.