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Subfield · Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Forestry research

Forestry is a subfield of Agricultural and Biological Sciences. Science Explorer counts 96k research works in it since 1950. 15.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: science and craft of creating, managing, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits.

Research works
96k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
15k
per year above
Top-10% rate
15.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
7
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+53%
the tick is no change

What is Forestry research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Economic Analysis, Environmental Impact, Forest Biomass, Wood Residues, Agroforestry, Biodiversity Conservation. Gaining share since 2009–13: Forest Health, Medicinal Plants, Livestock, Rangelands, Agriculture. Losing share: Grazing Management, Perennial Pastures, Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services.

▲ 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 21 words, with their numbers
  1. Economic Analysis17k◆ 1.11×3 topics
  2. Environmental Impact15k◆ 1.03×2 topics
  3. Forest Biomass13k◆ 1.03×1 topic
  4. Wood Residues13k◆ 1.03×1 topic
  5. Agroforestry13k◆ 1.07×3 topics
  6. Biodiversity Conservation9,322▲ 1.26×2 topics
  7. Climate Resilience9,322▲ 1.26×2 topics
  8. Sustainable Agriculture8,871▼ 0.83×2 topics
  9. Indigenous Fruits5,692◆ 0.89×1 topic
  10. Tree Domestication5,692◆ 0.89×1 topic
  11. Agriculture3,906▲ 1.52×2 topics
  12. Forest Health3,630▲ 3.5×1 topic
  13. Medicinal Plants3,630▲ 3.5×1 topic
  14. Biodiversity3,179▼ 0.74×1 topic
  15. Ecosystem Services3,179▼ 0.74×1 topic
  16. Livestock2,667▲ 2.1×1 topic
  17. Rangelands2,667▲ 2.1×1 topic
  18. Logistics1,238◆ 0.98×1 topic
  19. Transportation1,238◆ 0.98×1 topic
  20. Grazing Management844▼ 0.25×1 topic
  21. Perennial Pastures844▼ 0.25×1 topic

Which countries lead Forestry research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, India, China and Brazil rank highest in Forestry. By volume, Brazil and Indonesia publish the most (6.9k and 2.9k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 India · #4 all time 23.5% top 10% · 940 works
  2. 2 China · #5 all time 39.7% top 10% · 606 works
  3. 3 Brazil · #2 all time 7.0% top 10% · 6.9k works
  4. 4 United States · #1 all time 16.0% top 10% · 1k works
  5. 5 Indonesia · #9 all time 9.1% top 10% · 2.9k works
  6. 6 Ethiopia · #13 all time 40.1% top 10% · 270 works
  7. 7 Türkiye · #11 all time 14.4% top 10% · 1.8k works
  8. 8 Germany · #8 all time 24.7% top 10% · 250 works
  9. 9 France · #7 all time 12.6% top 10% · 578 works
  10. 10 Australia · #3 all time 23.7% top 10% · 228 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 17 countries ranked in Forestry. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Forestry

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Brazil 6.9k works
  2. 2 Indonesia 2.9k works
  3. 3 Türkiye 1.8k works
  4. 4 United States 1k works
  5. 5 India 940 works
  6. 6 Nigeria 627 works
  7. 7 China 606 works
  8. 8 France 578 works
  9. 9 Mexico 359 works
  10. 10 Ethiopia 270 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.

Brazil: 43.3%Indonesia: 17.9%Türkiye: 11.1%United States: 6.5%6 others listed: 21.1%43%largest
Brazil6,926 · 43.3%Indonesia2,867 · 17.9%Türkiye1,778 · 11.1%United States1,036 · 6.5%6 others listed3,380 · 21.1%

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

Which institutions lead Forestry research?

IPB University (Indonesia) ranks first in Forestry on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation and National Research and Innovation Agency.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 IPB University Indonesia · Bogor · #8 all time 14.1% top 10% · 160 works
  2. 2 Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation Brazil · Brasília · #2 all time 15.2% top 10% · 131 works
  3. 3 National Research and Innovation Agency Indonesia · Jakarta 21.9% top 10% · 74 works
  4. 4 Université d'Abomey-Calavi Benin · Cotonou · #7 all time 22.6% top 10% · 84 works
  5. 5 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil · São Paulo · #6 all time 11.2% top 10% · 120 works
  6. 6 Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) Brazil · São Paulo · #9 all time 8.9% top 10% · 145 works
  7. 7 Universidade Federal do Pará Brazil · Belém · #23 all time 9.5% top 10% · 136 works
  8. 8 Lampung University Indonesia · Bandar Lampung · #32 all time 13.0% top 10% · 78 works
  9. 9 Universidade Federal de Viçosa Brazil · Viçosa · #10 all time 11.0% top 10% · 92 works
  10. 10 Universidade Federal do Paraná Brazil · Curitiba · #13 all time 8.2% top 10% · 115 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 44 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Forestry.

Top 100 Forestry institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 IPB UniversityIndonesia 160 works
  2. 2 Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)Brazil 145 works
  3. 3 Universidade Federal do ParáBrazil 136 works
  4. 4 Brazilian Agricultural Research CorporationBrazil 131 works
  5. 5 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 120 works
  6. 6 Universidade Federal do ParanáBrazil 115 works
  7. 7 Universidade Federal do AmazonasBrazil 112 works
  8. 8 Universidade Federal de Santa MariaBrazil 104 works
  9. 9 Lambung Mangkurat UniversityIndonesia 99 works
  10. 10 Universidade Federal do CearáBrazil 95 works

Who are the leading researchers in Forestry?

Among the most productive authors in Forestry, Marjolein Visser, Pierre Legendre and Jozef Deckers rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Marjolein Visser Netherlands · #439 worldwide 2.1k citations · 154 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 Ian Foster United States · #952 worldwide 4.9k citations · 347 works
  5. 5 Peter B. Reich United States · #1,283 worldwide 4.1k citations · 157 works
  6. 6 Robert J. Scholes South Africa · #1,985 worldwide 1.7k citations · 134 works
  7. 7 Keith Paustian United States · #2,115 worldwide 2.5k citations · 101 works
  8. 8 Johannes Lehmann United States · #2,116 worldwide 2.2k citations · 94 works
  9. 9 John Hodgson New Zealand · #2,291 worldwide 2.1k citations · 180 works
  10. 10 Nina Buchmann Switzerland · #2,434 worldwide 2.4k citations · 119 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 3,915 highest-output authors in Forestry. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Forestry researchers

Where is Forestry research done?

The largest centres of Forestry research in 2022–2025 are São Paulo (Brazil), Brasília (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Belém (Brazil). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Daloa, Korhogo and Müncheberg.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 São Paulo Brazil 730 works
  2. 2 Brasília Brazil 356 works
  3. 3 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 355 works
  4. 4 Belém Brazil 339 works
  5. 5 Curitiba Brazil 245 works
  6. 6 Recife Brazil 230 works
  7. 7 Jakarta Indonesia 223 works
  8. 8 Bogor Indonesia 210 works
  9. 9 Manaus Brazil 210 works
  10. 10 Fortaleza Brazil 183 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. DaloaCI · 48.2 works81×
  2. KorhogoCI · 33.8 works77×
  3. MünchebergDE · 49.3 works74×
  4. ParakouBJ · 29.4 works46×
  5. CarlowIE · 57.9 works40×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Forestry on the map

Forestry research by country

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

Where is the best place to study Forestry?

Among universities, judged by research, Université de Parakou, IPB University and Universidade Federal do Pará 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%60%mean 23.16%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Université de Parakou: 29, 34.4%IPB University: 160, 14.1%Universidade Federal do Pará: 136, 9.5%Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo: 51, 28.8%Université d'Abomey-Calavi: 84, 22.6%Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry: 21, 49.4%University of Khartoum: 14, 31.1%Universidade Federal do Amazonas: 112, 6.0%Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia: 74, 11.1%Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University: 29, 24.6%Université de ParakouUniversité Joseph Ki…IPB UniversityUniversidade Federal…
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
1 Université de ParakouBenin 68.834.4%46.5×29 +424.1%
2 IPB UniversityIndonesia 68.114.1%13.1×160 +274.1%
3 Universidade Federal do ParáBrazil 65.09.5%15.8×136 +200.3%
4 Université Joseph Ki-ZerboBurkina Faso 63.428.8%40.6×51 +92.5%
5 Université d'Abomey-CalaviBenin 63.222.6%41.2×84 +71.9%
6 Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and ForestryIndia 62.949.4%18.0×21 +63.7%
7 University of KhartoumSudan 62.631.1%10.0×14 +257.3%
8 Universidade Federal do AmazonasBrazil 61.56.0%24.0×112 +223.5%
9 Universidade Federal Rural da AmazôniaBrazil 61.411.1%70.8×74 +252.5%
10 Tekirdağ Namık Kemal UniversityTürkiye 60.724.6%10.9×29 +266.4%

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 Forestry research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 53% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2020. The fastest-growing topics are Forest Ecology and Conservation, Agricultural and Rural Development Research and Agricultural and Food Sciences.

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. Forest Ecology and Conservation+1030%
  2. Agricultural and Rural Development Research+515%
  3. Agricultural and Food Sciences+352%
  4. Logistics and Infrastructure Analysis+306%
  5. African Botany and Ecology Studies+178%
  6. Agroforestry and silvopastoral systems+93%
  7. Pasture and Agricultural Systems-17%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

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

What does Forestry include?

Agricultural and Food Sc…38kAgricultural and Food Sciences: 38k fractional worksAfrican Botany and Ecolo…20kAfrican Botany and Ecology Studies: 20k fractional worksAgroforestry and silvopa…13kAgroforestry and silvopastoral systems: 13k fractional worksForest Ecology and Conse…7,344Forest Ecology and Conservation: 7,344 fractional worksPasture and Agricultural Systems: 7,119 fractional worksAgricultural and Rural Development Research: 6,667 fractional worksLogistics and Infrastructure Analysis: 3,691 fractional works

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