A bibliometric analysis of ecosystem services evaluation from 1997 to 2016

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Bibliometrics
• Ecology

Background:

• Ecosystem services are vital for human society but are threatened by human activities.
• Global concern for ecological security drives extensive research in ecosystem services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a qualitative and quantitative analysis of ecosystem services research performance.
• To identify influential journals, countries/territories, and institutions in the field.
• To explore research hotspots, popular methods, and relationships within the ecosystem services literature.

Main Methods:

• Bibliometric analysis using journal impact factor, CiteScore, and h-index.
• Social network analysis of countries/territories and institutions.
• Citation analysis of publications and co-occurrence analysis of high-frequency keywords.

Main Results:

• Identified influential journals, productive countries/territories, and leading institutions in ecosystem services research (1997-2016).
• Visualized country and institutional networks to uncover relationships.
• Highlighted forest, agriculture, and wetland ecosystems as areas of significant research focus.
• Identified and discussed major methods employed for ecosystem services evaluation.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a comprehensive overview of the primary performance of ecosystem services literature.
• Findings offer valuable insights for stakeholders interested in ecological security and ecosystem services research.
• The research identifies key trends and influential players in the field, guiding future studies.