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A bibliometric analysis of mountain ecosystem services, 2000–2019

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Abstract

Research on mountain ecosystem services (MES) under the influence of climate change and human activities has gradually become the focus of academic attention in recent years. Here, this study analyzes the research hotspots and frontiers of this field based on metrics including main research forces, core journals and papers, research hotspots and topics by using the methods of bibliometrics and text mining. The results revealed the following: (1) the number of papers is increasing rapidly in recent years. From 2015 to 2019, 929 papers were published, with an average of 185 papers per year. But the average cited times of those papers is declining, dropped from 6.01 in 2016 to 4.2 in 2019. The USA, UK, and China rank the top three of the number of papers. Univ Maryland, Univ Oxford and Univ Wisconsin have the greatest influence, with an average of more than 77 citations per paper; (2) The most cited journals are PNAS, WETLANDS, ECOLOGY, AND SOCIETY, which are cited 191.54, 53.91, and 40.00 respectively. Most papers were published in OA journals including SUSTAINABILITY, WATER, Forests since 2017. Ten core papers undertaking knowledge transfer in this field have been identified; (3) analysis of the keywords found a new trend of integration of natural science and humanities. In two development stages of 2000–2014 and 2015–2019, the research hotspots mainly focused on mountain water resources, forest resources, land resources and the impact of climate change and human activities, and there are obvious differences and characteristics in different stages. The hotspot worthy of attention in the near future is the assessment of mountain ecosystem services capacity and value. This is the first comprehensive visualization and analysis of the research hotspots and trends of mountain ecosystem services.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all participants and collaborators for their contribution to the cohort study. All the anonymous reviewers and editors are also greatly appreciated for their suggestions and comments on this manuscript.

Funding

The research reported in this manuscript is funded by The Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (Grant No.2019QZKK0403-4), Youth Science and Technology Fund Plan of Gansu Province (Grant No. 21JR7RA063), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No.42071093, NO. 41961144021), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFA0608500), CAS literature and information capacity building program (Grant No. E0290001), State Key Laboratory ofCryospheric Science (SKLCS-ZZ-2021)  and CAS "Light of West China" program.

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Author contributions: LIU Wenhao, WANG Zengru conceived the idea; LIU Wenhao, LI Ren performed study, LIU Wenhao, WANG Zengru analyzed data; LIU Wenhao, WANG Zengru, LI Ren, WU Tonghua wrote manuscript.

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Correspondence to Wenhao Liu or Ren Li.

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Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Highlights

• This is the first comprehensive visualization and analysis of the research hotspots and trends of mountain ecosystem services.

• Research hotspots mainly focused on water resources, forest resources, land resources, the impact of climate change and human activities.

• Evaluation of capacity and value of mountain ecosystem services is becoming a hot topic.

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Liu, W., Wang, Z., Li, R. et al. A bibliometric analysis of mountain ecosystem services, 2000–2019. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 16633–16652 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16766-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16766-2

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