Research hotspots and trends of groundwater and ecology studies: Based on a bibliometric approach
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Abstract: Groundwater, as a critical component of the hydrological cycle, is essential for sustainable ecosystem development. To clarify the current status of domestic and overseas research, and to identify hotspots, frontier and future trends of groundwater and ecology research, this study utilizes bibliometric methods and CiteSpace software to examine relevant published articles in the Web of Science (WOS) and CNKI databases from 1978 to 2022. Specifically, this study analyzes (1) the annual number of published papers; (2) research institutions; (3) keywords; and (4) evolution of research hotspots. The findings reveal that the United States, China, and Germany are the top three countries in groundwater and ecology research. International research hotspots mainly focus on microbial ecology, climate change, groundwater-surface water interactions in the hyporheic zone, biodiversity, and submarine groundwater discharge, while domestic research hotspots mainly focus on ecological water conveyance, ecological flow, groundwater development and utilization, groundwater pollution, and groundwater and ecological protection. Both domestic and international research hotspots exhibit interdisciplinary features with diverse research objects and assessment methods. Future research in this area is expected to focus on topics such as contamination, groundwater quality, framework, mechanism, spatial distribution, and dissolved organic matter. Additionally, the study of ecological recharge, ecological flow, ecological protection, water intake and use will continue to be the hot topics domestically.
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Table 1. Yearly numbers of published papers on groundwater and ecology exported from WOS and CNKI database
Year Number of papers (WOS) Number of papers (CNKI) Year Number of papers(WOS) Number of papers(CNKI) Year Number of papers(WOS) Number of papers (CNKI) 2022 321 446 2007 176 1037 1992 37 24 2021 1007 1454 2006 183 937 1991 25 31 2020 854 1346 2005 156 807 1990 5 24 2019 767 1249 2004 117 642 1989 9 11 2018 693 1215 2003 141 484 1988 1 6 2017 629 1234 2002 102 292 1987 1 15 2016 560 1255 2001 100 230 1986 1 9 2015 557 1011 2000 99 156 1985 - 13 2014 462 1055 1999 90 52 1984 1 14 2013 377 1104 1998 110 39 1983 1 6 2012 337 989 1997 75 51 1982 - 5 2011 370 977 1996 60 42 1981 - 5 2010 276 1035 1995 94 32 1980 1 - 2009 262 949 1994 56 21 1979 - 2 2008 220 1014 1993 48 25 1978 1 2 Table 2. Top 10 countries in number of published articles in WOS and CNKI database
NO Country Number of articles Percentage 1 USA 3135 33.4% 2 China 1496 15.9% 3 Germany 947 10.1% 4 Australia 914 9.7% 5 Canada 632 6.7% 6 England 526 5.6% 7 France 475 5.1% 8 Netherlands 457 4.9% 9 Spain 421 4.5% 10 Italy 380 4.1% Table 3. Top ten institutions in number of published articles in WOS and CNKI databases
WOS CNKI Institutions Number of articles Institutions Number of articles Chinese Academy of Sciences 574 China University of Geosciences(Beijing) 581 League of European Research Universities Leru 469 Jilin University 549 United States Department of the Interior 363 Chang’an University 536 United States Geological Survey 341 Northwest A&F university 406 University of California System 311 Hohai University 353 Helmholtz Association 294 Lanzhou University 347 Centre National De La RechercheScientifiquecnrs 281 Xi’an University of Technology 343 United States Department of Agriculture USDA 254 Beijing Forestry University 334 State University system of Florida 235 Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography Chinese Academy of Sciences 321 United States Department of Energy Doe 199 Xinjiang University 303 Table 4. High frequency keywords for groundwater and ecology in WOS and CNKI database(2002–2022)
CNKI WOS NO Cited frequency Year Keywords NO Cited frequency Year Keywords 1 1 005 2002 Groundwater 1 501 2002 Groundwater 2 330 2002 Water resources 2 363 2002 Water 3 286 2002 Ecological environment 3 358 2002 Ecology 4 112 2006 Numerical modelling 4 269 2002 Diversity 5 87 2003 Groundwater level 5 258 2002 Climate change 6 87 2017 Comprehensive treatment 6 194 2003 Dynamics 7 79 2003 Development and utilization 7 191 2002 River 8 79 2011 Ecological remediation 8 183 2002 Soil 9 71 2003 Ecologic water conveyance 9 177 2002 Pattern 10 68 2003 Countermeasure 10 171 2002 Management 11 64 2018 Ecological water compensation 11 170 2002 Biodiversity 12 57 2002 Ecological water requirement 12 162 2006 Impact 13 55 2002 Water environment 13 159 2002 Vegetation 14 50 2003 Tarim River 14 140 2002 Community 15 45 2003 Surface water 15 133 2003 Surface water 16 44 2009 Protection 16 133 2002 Ecosystem 17 44 2003 Evaluation index system 17 124 2004 Flow 18 43 2002 Soil 18 119 2002 Aquifer 19 42 2004 Influence 19 114 2002 Steam 20 41 2005 Evaluation 20 108 2002 Growth 21 39 2005 Reuse water 21 107 2002 Model 22 37 2016 Over-mining area 22 106 2002 Water quality 23 36 2005 Optimal configuration 23 101 2002 Sediment 24 34 2017 Sponge City 24 100 2002 Nitrogen 25 33 2005 Arid region 25 98 2002 Microbial community 26 33 2016 Water quality 26 86 2010 Stable isotope 27 33 2007 Ecosystem 27 85 2007 Land use 28 32 2012 Pollution 28 81 2002 Temperature 29 32 2020 Ecological flow 29 79 2002 Bacteria 30 31 2008 Measure 30 78 2002 System 31 31 2008 Vegetation 31 77 2009 Quality 32 30 2017 Hydrogeology 32 77 2003 Carbon 33 29 2002 Human activities 33 76 2007 Drinking water 34 29 2016 Water chemistry 34 74 2002 Hyporheic zone 35 28 2003 South-North water transfer project 35 71 2005 Forest 36 28 2013 Water ecology 36 70 2004 Transport 37 27 2002 Ecology 37 70 2007 Habitat 38 27 2012 Populus diversifolia 38 69 2003 Variability 39 26 2016 Environmental implication 39 68 2003 Nitrate 40 25 2007 Protection measures 40 68 2008 Heavy metal 41 25 2012 Coal mining with water conservation 41 67 2006 Basin 42 25 2009 Analysis 42 67 2002 Degradation 43 25 2014 Influence factors 43 67 2002 Spnov 44 25 2002 Climate change 44 64 2003 Organic matter 45 25 2011 Wetland 45 63 2009 Evolution 46 25 2004 Forecast 46 63 2002 Plant 47 25 2020 Yellow River 47 63 2002 Wetland 48 25 2016 Water sources 48 62 2008 Conservation 49 24 2016 Hebei province 49 59 2007 Microbial ecology 50 23 2015 Environmental protection 50 57 2009 Ecosystem service -
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