Visualizing the bibliometrics of research trends and hotspots on grazing effects on global grassland vegetation

The effect of grazing on degraded grassland ecosystems is one of the key issues under study. This study analyzed the literature indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases using co-occurrence network visualization (countries, institutions, and authors) and hotspot analysis to assess the current research landscape and hotspot trends in global studies on grazing effects on grassland vegetation. The following findings were revealed: (1) The number of publications had increased over the years, indicating sustained international interest in the field of grazing-affected grassland vegetation, with a not yet close but increasingly frequent global collaboration. (2) Inter-institutional collaboration was more extensive in the WoS dataset than in the CNKI dataset. In WoS, authors from the United States contributed 18.80 % of the publications, followed by those from China. However, institutions in the United States and Germany played a central role in collaborative networks. (3) The effects of climate change and grazing management patterns on carbon sources and sinks, soil nutrients, ecosystem functions, and community stability of typical grasslands will emerge as hotspot frontiers. Further exploration of specific thresholds and models to develop rational grazing management measures and to address climate change remains an urgent challenge in this field. The history and current status of grazing effects on global grassland vegetation were analyzed in this study. Our results can help clarify evolutionary patterns and future directions in this field, offering a reference for subsequent research.