Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Subfield · Environmental Science

Ecology research

Ecology is a subfield of Environmental Science. Science Explorer counts 940k research works in it since 1950. 21.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: scientific study of the relationships between living organisms.

Research works
940k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
200k
per year above
Top-10% rate
21.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
33
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+25%
the tick is no change

What is Ecology research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Climate Change, Biodiversity, Invasive Species, Population Dynamics, Environmental Impact, Global Change. Gaining share since 2009–13: Heavy Metals, Marine Ecology, Water Quality, Fisheries Management, Environmental Impact. Losing share: Stable Isotopes, Trophic Position, Ecosystem, Physiological Adaptation.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change70k◆ 1.04×13 topics
  2. Biodiversity36k▲ 1.18×9 topics
  3. Invasive Species29k▼ 0.85×6 topics
  4. Population Dynamics28k◆ 0.94×3 topics
  5. Environmental Impact27k▲ 3.0×4 topics
  6. Global Change22k▲ 1.36×2 topics
  7. Habitat Selection21k◆ 0.93×2 topics
  8. Conservation20k◆ 1.08×4 topics
  9. Remote Sensing16k▲ 1.23×2 topics
  10. Marine Microbes15k▲ 1.20×1 topic
  11. Microbial Biogeography15k▲ 1.20×1 topic
  12. Ecology15k◆ 0.93×2 topics
  13. Animal Movement15k◆ 1.01×1 topic
  14. Occupancy Rates15k◆ 1.01×1 topic
  15. Greenhouse Gas Emissions15k▲ 2.7×2 topics
  16. Phenology14k▲ 1.90×1 topic
  17. Vegetation Monitoring14k▲ 1.90×1 topic
  18. Ecosystem14k▼ 0.71×3 topics
  19. Predator-Prey Interactions13k◆ 0.87×2 topics
  20. Water Quality13k▲ 3.6×3 topics
  21. Bacteriophage12k◆ 0.91×1 topic
  22. Virus12k◆ 0.91×1 topic
  23. River Restoration12k◆ 0.97×2 topics
  24. Fisheries Management11k▲ 3.6×2 topics
  25. Geomorphological Effects11k◆ 0.98×2 topics
  26. Sediment Transport10k▲ 1.17×2 topics
  27. Food Systems9,734▲ 2.4×1 topic
  28. Sustainable Diets9,734▲ 2.4×1 topic
  29. Coral Reefs9,520◆ 1.14×1 topic
  30. Marine Ecosystems9,520◆ 1.14×1 topic
  31. Conservation Genetics8,930◆ 1.08×2 topics
  32. Coastal Protection8,923▲ 1.27×1 topic
  33. Mangrove Forests8,923▲ 1.27×1 topic
  34. Heavy Metals8,439▲ 7.6×1 topic
  35. Marine Ecology8,439▲ 7.6×1 topic
  36. Fluvial Processes8,421◆ 1.00×1 topic
  37. Riparian Vegetation8,421◆ 1.00×1 topic
  38. Stable Isotopes8,321▼ 0.63×1 topic
  39. Trophic Position8,321▼ 0.63×1 topic
  40. Physiological Adaptation8,178▼ 0.84×2 topics

Which countries lead Ecology research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Ecology. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (28k and 26k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #3 all time 28.9% top 10% · 28k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 20.6% top 10% · 26k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 27.4% top 10% · 5.6k works
  4. 4 India · #13 all time 16.2% top 10% · 7.6k works
  5. 5 Germany · #4 all time 29.4% top 10% · 4.7k works
  6. 6 Australia · #5 all time 27.1% top 10% · 4.9k works
  7. 7 France · #6 all time 23.6% top 10% · 4.9k works
  8. 8 Canada · #7 all time 21.7% top 10% · 4.6k works
  9. 9 Spain · #9 all time 23.3% top 10% · 3.9k works
  10. 10 Italy · #10 all time 26.5% top 10% · 3.5k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 70 countries ranked in Ecology. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Ecology

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 28k works
  2. 2 United States 26k works
  3. 3 Indonesia 11k works
  4. 4 India 7.6k works
  5. 5 Brazil 7k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 5.6k works
  7. 7 France 4.9k works
  8. 8 Australia 4.9k works
  9. 9 Russia 4.7k works
  10. 10 Germany 4.7k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 27.3%United States: 24.6%Indonesia: 10.1%India: 7.3%6 others listed: 30.7%27%largest
China28k · 27.3%United States26k · 24.6%Indonesia11k · 10.1%India7,561 · 7.3%6 others listed32k · 30.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Ecology research?

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Ecology on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #8 all time 33.7% top 10% · 1.2k works
  2. 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #46 all time 35.8% top 10% · 634 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France · Paris · #2 all time 27.8% top 10% · 587 works
  4. 4 Wageningen University & Research Netherlands · Wageningen · #13 all time 38.0% top 10% · 360 works
  5. 5 China Agricultural University China · Beijing 41.2% top 10% · 274 works
  6. 6 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs China · Beijing 35.8% top 10% · 356 works
  7. 7 Northwest A&F University China · Yangling 42.5% top 10% · 230 works
  8. 8 Beijing Normal University China · Beijing 34.2% top 10% · 313 works
  9. 9 The University of Queensland Australia · Brisbane · #17 all time 31.4% top 10% · 280 works
  10. 10 Zhejiang University China · Hangzhou 35.8% top 10% · 238 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 578 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Ecology.

Top 100 Ecology institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China 1.2k works
  2. 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China 634 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France 587 works
  4. 4 IPB University Indonesia 559 works
  5. 5 United States Geological Survey United States 433 works
  6. 6 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Mexico 431 works
  7. 7 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil 371 works
  8. 8 Wageningen University & Research Netherlands 360 works
  9. 9 Diponegoro University Indonesia 358 works
  10. 10 University of Florida United States 356 works

Who are the leading researchers in Ecology?

Among the most productive authors in Ecology, Robert M. May, Pierre Legendre and Jozef Deckers rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Robert M. May United States · #167 worldwide 4.2k citations · 146 works
  2. 2 Pierre Legendre Canada · #722 worldwide 3.5k citations · 113 works
  3. 3 Jozef Deckers Belgium · #849 worldwide 2.8k citations · 132 works
  4. 4 Peer Bork Germany · #1,043 worldwide 4.7k citations · 97 works
  5. 5 Markus Reichstein Germany · #1,232 worldwide 3.2k citations · 155 works
  6. 6 Peter B. Reich United States · #1,283 worldwide 4.1k citations · 157 works
  7. 7 Daniel Simberloff United States · #1,360 worldwide 2.9k citations · 130 works
  8. 8 Stephen R. Carpenter United States · #1,495 worldwide 3.2k citations · 89 works
  9. 9 Ove Hoegh‐Guldberg Australia · #1,610 worldwide 2.9k citations · 99 works
  10. 10 Erko Stackebrandt Germany · #1,625 worldwide 2.5k citations · 132 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,698 highest-output authors in Ecology. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Ecology researchers

Where is Ecology research done?

The largest centres of Ecology research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Paris (France), Nanjing (China) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Da Nang, Trai Ngau and Thành Phố Uông Bí.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 7.3k works
  2. 2 Paris France 1.8k works
  3. 3 Nanjing China 1.7k works
  4. 4 Moscow Russia 1.7k works
  5. 5 Washington D.C. United States 1.3k works
  6. 6 Guangzhou China 1.2k works
  7. 7 Shanghai China 1.2k works
  8. 8 Wuhan China 1.2k works
  9. 9 São Paulo Brazil 1.1k works
  10. 10 Jakarta Indonesia 1.1k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Da Nang96.6 works62×
  2. Trai NgauVN · 202.6 works59×
  3. Thành Phố Uông BíVN · 180.1 works56×
  4. ThetfordGB · 26.1 works54×
  5. SandyGB · 38.7 works51×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Ecology than the world average.

See Ecology on the map

Ecology research by country

The best places for Ecology research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Ecology?

Among universities, judged by research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Wageningen University & Research and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 30.28%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences: 258, 33.4%Wageningen University & Research: 360, 38.0%King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: 115, 36.0%James Cook University: 167, 29.6%BOKU University: 111, 31.6%Czech University of Life Sciences Prague: 131, 21.7%University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: 634, 35.8%IPB University: 559, 7.5%University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice: 79, 26.7%Northwest A&F University: 230, 42.5%Wageningen Universit…King Abdullah Univer…Swedish University o…James Cook University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Sweden 65.933.4%10.2×258 +3.2%
2Wageningen University & Research Netherlands 60.838.0%6.1×360 +2.0%
3King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Saudi Arabia 54.536.0%2.5×115 +269.6%
4James Cook University Australia 53.329.6%7.9×167 +8.3%
5BOKU University Austria 52.131.6%6.8×111 +37.7%
6Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Czechia 51.021.7%8.0×131 +69.4%
7University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China 50.835.8%2.4×634 +5.2%
8IPB University Indonesia 50.17.5%6.1×559 +311.7%
9University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice Czechia 49.526.7%8.4×79 +33.1%
10Northwest A&F University China 49.342.5%3.6×230 -30.5%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Ecology research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 25% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Marine and Coastal Ecosystems, Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact and Remote Sensing in Agriculture.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Marine and Coastal Ecosystems+2070%
  2. Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact+262%
  3. Remote Sensing in Agriculture+157%
  4. Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies+152%
  5. Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies+92%
  6. Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics+83%
  7. Isotope Analysis in Ecology-2%
  8. Environmental Quality and Pollution-82%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Ecology include?

Bacteriophages and micro…73kBacteriophages and microbial interactions: 73k fractional worksWildlife Ecology and Con…66kWildlife Ecology and Conservation: 66k fractional worksMicrobial Community Ecology and Physiology: 61k fractional worksIsotope Analysis in Ecology: 48k fractional worksRemote Sensing in Agriculture: 45k fractional worksParasite Biology and Host Interactions: 45k fractional worksPhysiological and biochemical adaptations: 38k fractional worksCoral and Marine Ecosystems Studies: 37k fractional worksHydrology and Sediment Transport Processes: 37k fractional worksMarine animal studies overview: 36k fractional worksAvian ecology and behavior: 36k fractional worksCoastal wetland ecosystem dynamics: 36k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.