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Government institution · Washington · United States

US Forest Service

In research, US Forest Service stands highest in Environmental Science (#656 of 3,551 worldwide), Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#833 of 3,409 worldwide) and Physical Sciences (#4,715 of 12,888 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Environmental Chemistry, Geophysics and Nature and Landscape Conservation — Environmental Chemistry is 40.9× its share of world research.

fs.usda.govROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#5,420
of 28,054 · #2,515 all time
Rank in United States
#743
of 4,192
Research works
9.9k
▼ 17% vs 2013–17
Citations
310k
31.2 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
14.6%
record average 16.5%
Open access
38%
world 28%

What is US Forest Service known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Environmental ScienceField #656 of 3,551 17.4%376 #194
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #833 of 3,409 21.5%110 #387
Physical SciencesDomain #4,715 of 12,888 12.7%616 #2115
Life SciencesDomain #3,567 of 7,800 20.2%140 #2701
Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield #284 of 535 19.2%112 #100
EcologySubfield #347 of 578 20.8%85 #183
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #914 of 1,209 4.5%133 #460
GeophysicsSubfield #234 of 237 0.0%106 —
Environmental ChemistrySubfield #78 of 79 0.9%73 #330

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where US Forest Service sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Environmental Science#194 #656
  2. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#387 #833
  3. Physical Sciences#2,115 #4,715
  4. Life Sciences#2,701 #3,567
  5. Global and Planetary Change#100 #284
  6. Ecology#183 #347
  7. Earth and Planetary Sciences#460 #914
  8. Environmental Chemistry#330 #78
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does US Forest Service specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Environmental Chemistry takes 40.9× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Environmental ChemistrySubfield · 73.2 works41×
  2. GeophysicsSubfield · 106.5 works37×
  3. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 46.4 works24×
  4. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 111.8 works18×
  5. EcologySubfield · 85.2 works13×
  6. Insect ScienceSubfield · 28.3 works12×
  7. Earth and Planetary SciencesField · 133.3 works10×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 2.83× its world share, 110 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.64× its world share, 28 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.11× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.05× its world share, 1 worksNeuroscienceChemical Engineering: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.12× its world share, 2 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.20× its world share, 13 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 10.37× its world share, 133 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.10× its world share, 1 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.35× its world share, 43 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 9.23× its world share, 376 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.23× its world share, 7 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.28× its world share, 3 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 2.11× its world share, 38 worksPhysics and AstronomyHealth Professions: 0.26× its world share, 6 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.06× its world share, 10 worksMedicineNursing: 0.30× its world share, 1 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.67× its world share, 1 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.23× its world share, 6 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.09× its world share, 2 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.33× its world share, 3 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.39× its world share, 7 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.28× its world share, 7 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.22× its world share, 22 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Earth and Planetary Sciences, 10.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at US Forest Service?

Ranked on the composite score, Ariel E. Lugo, J. Morgan Grove and Thomas R. Crow lead among researchers whose main affiliation is US Forest Service.

  1. 1 Ariel E. Lugo · #6,783 worldwide 1.1k citations · 64 works
  2. 2 J. Morgan Grove · #27,728 worldwide 555 citations · 43 works
  3. 3 Thomas R. Crow · #48,554 worldwide 264 citations · 41 works
  4. 4 Melvin T. Tyree · #51,038 worldwide 353 citations · 36 works
  5. 5 William J. Mattson · #64,122 worldwide 747 citations · 26 works
  6. 6 John A. Parrotta · #77,589 worldwide 424 citations · 31 works
  7. 7 Wei Min Hao · #81,770 worldwide 253 citations · 30 works
  8. 8 Sean P. Healey · #95,012 worldwide 255 citations · 31 works
  9. 9 Aldo Leopold · #145,299 worldwide 142 citations · 26 works
  10. 10 Richard M. DeGraaf · #181,203 worldwide 180 citations · 33 works
All ranked researchers at US Forest Service

Which keywords describe research at US Forest Service?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Invasive Species, Remote Sensing, Seismic Noise, Tomography, Microbial Communities, Ecosystem Resilience and Anaerobic.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change209▲ 9.5×78 topics
  2. Invasive Species85▲ 24×19 topics
  3. Remote Sensing81▲ 8.0×29 topics
  4. Seismic Noise76▲ 192×1 topic
  5. Tomography76▲ 51×1 topic
  6. Microbial Communities74▲ 21×4 topics
  7. Ecosystem Resilience69▲ 58×5 topics
  8. Anaerobic69▲ 122×1 topic
  9. Methane Oxidation69▲ 104×1 topic
  10. Biodiversity68▲ 11×28 topics
  11. Soil Properties61▲ 43×5 topics
  12. Forest Fires56▲ 154×1 topic
  13. Wildfire Activity56▲ 154×1 topic
  14. Biodiversity Conservation54▲ 18×15 topics
  15. Conservation49▲ 14×20 topics
  16. Ionosphere38▲ 83×1 topic
  17. Magnetosphere38▲ 83×1 topic
  18. Biological Invasions37▲ 51×2 topics
  19. Ecosystem35▲ 40×4 topics
  20. Habitat Fragmentation34▲ 19×5 topics
  21. Global Warming31▲ 9.4×11 topics
  22. Biomass Estimation31▲ 25×3 topics
  23. Ionospheric Anomalies31▲ 97×1 topic
  24. Seismic Electromagnetics31▲ 97×1 topic
  25. Global Change30▲ 14×6 topics
  26. Ecosystem Services28▲ 8.9×12 topics
  27. Aboveground Biomass26▲ 35×2 topics
  28. Population Dynamics24▲ 12×11 topics
  29. Land Use Change22▲ 8.9×7 topics
  30. Economic Impacts21▲ 36×2 topics
  31. Bark Beetles21▲ 126×1 topic
  32. Forest Pests21▲ 126×1 topic
  33. Climate Change Impacts20▲ 20×6 topics
  34. Phylogenetic Analysis19▲ 7.7×11 topics
  35. Species Richness19▲ 36×2 topics
  36. Ecosystem Functioning19▲ 12×5 topics
  37. Citizen Science18▲ 23×3 topics
  38. Forest Carbon Sequestration18▲ 104×1 topic
  39. Sustainable Forest Management18▲ 104×1 topic
  40. Sagebrush18▲ 145×1 topic

Which research topics does US Forest Service publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Seismic Waves and Analysis, Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena, Fire effects on ecosystems and Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics.

Seismic Waves and Analysis: 76 fractional worksMethane Hydrates and Related Phenomena: 69 fractional worksFire effects on ecosystems: 56 fractional worksIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics: 38 fractional worksEarthquake Detection and Analysis: 31 fractional worksForest Insect Ecology an…21Forest Insect Ecology and Management: 21 fractional worksForest Management and Policy: 18 fractional worksRangeland and Wildlife Management: 18 fractional worksEcology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies: 16 fractional worksForest ecology and management: 15 fractional works
GeophysicsEnvironmental ChemistryGlobal and Planetary ChangeAstronomy and Astrophysics2 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Seismic Waves and AnalysisGeophysics 76 works
  2. 2 Methane Hydrates and Related PhenomenaEnvironmental Chemistry 69 works
  3. 3 Fire effects on ecosystemsGlobal and Planetary Change 56 works
  4. 4 Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamicsAstronomy and Astrophysics 38 works
  5. 5 Earthquake Detection and AnalysisGeophysics 31 works
  6. 6 Forest Insect Ecology and ManagementEcology 21 works
  7. 7 Forest Management and PolicyGlobal and Planetary Change 18 works
  8. 8 Rangeland and Wildlife ManagementEcology 18 works
  9. 9 Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesNature and Landscape Conservation 16 works
  10. 10 Forest ecology and managementNature and Landscape Conservation 15 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available37.8%not open62.2%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors13.3%domestic only86.7%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has US Forest Service's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 17% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Washington

All research institutions in Washington

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.