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African Botany and Ecology Studies

African Botany and Ecology Studies is a research topic within Forestry. Science Explorer counts 20k research works in it since 1950. 10.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the domestication and utilization of indigenous agroforestry trees in Africa, particularly emphasizing their nutritional value, sustainable agriculture practices, and their role in supporting rural livelihoods. The papers cover topics such as tree domestication, traditional fermentation techniques, climate resilience, and the conservation of biodiversity.

  • Agroforestry
  • Tree Domestication
  • Indigenous Fruits
  • Nutritional Value
  • Sustainable Agriculture
  • Smallholder Farmers
  • Climate Resilience
  • Rural Livelihoods
  • Traditional Fermentation
  • Biodiversity Conservation
Research works
20k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+24%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Nigeria
22% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
African Botany and Ecology Studies

Which countries lead African Botany and Ecology Studies research?

By volume, Nigeria and India publish the most (631 and 467 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Nigeria 631 works
  2. 2 India 467 works
  3. 3 France 397 works
  4. 4 Côte d'Ivoire 281 works
  5. 5 Ethiopia 217 works
  6. 6 United States 211 works
  7. 7 Cameroon 189 works
  8. 8 Indonesia 169 works
  9. 9 Brazil 165 works
  10. 10 China 164 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.

Nigeria: 21.8%India: 16.2%France: 13.7%Côte d'Ivoire: 9.7%6 others listed: 38.5%22%largest
Nigeria631 · 21.8%India467 · 16.2%France397 · 13.7%Côte d'Ivoire281 · 9.7%6 others listed1,114 · 38.5%

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

Which institutions lead African Botany and Ecology Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most African Botany and Ecology Studies research, followed by Université d'Abomey-Calavi and Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 116 works
  2. 2 Université d'Abomey-CalaviBenin 83 works
  3. 3 Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'EnvironnementFrance 78 works
  4. 4 Université Félix Houphouët-BoignyCôte d'Ivoire 68 works
  5. 5 Université Nangui AbrogouaCôte d'Ivoire 57 works
  6. 6 Université Joseph Ki-ZerboBurkina Faso 56 works
  7. 7 Université Jean Lorougnon GuédéCôte d'Ivoire 54 works
  8. 8 University of LoméTogo 53 works
  9. 9 Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchIndia 37 works
  10. 10 Cheikh Anta Diop UniversitySenegal 36 works

Who are the leading researchers in African Botany and Ecology Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on African Botany and Ecology Studies include Philippe Ciais, David Julian McClements and David Cunningham.

  1. 1 Philippe Ciais France 237k citations
  2. 2 David Julian McClements United States 185k citations
  3. 3 David Cunningham United Kingdom 133k citations
  4. 4 Rattan Lal United States 126k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in African Botany and Ecology Studies?

The most cited paper in African Botany and Ecology Studies is "Vive la différence: plant functional diversity matters to ecosystem processes" (Sandra M. Díaz, Marcelo Cabido, 2001), with 3,305 citations. Next come "Phytochemical constituents of some Nigerian medicinal plants" (2,465) and "Determinants of woody cover in African savannas" (1,992).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Vive la différence: plant functional diversity matters to ecosystem processes Sandra M. Díaz, Marcelo Cabido · Trends in Ecology & Evolution ReviewOpen access Nov 2001 3,305
2 Phytochemical constituents of some Nigerian medicinal plants Hilary O. Edeoga, D. E. Okwu, B. O. Mbaebie · AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY Open access May 2005 2,465
3 Determinants of woody cover in African savannas Mahesh Sankaran et al. · Nature Open access Dec 2005 1,992
4 Agroforestry for ecosystem services and environmental benefits: an overview Shibu Jose · Agroforestry Systems 6 Apr 2009 1,769
5 Reconciling Food Production and Biodiversity Conservation: Land Sharing and Land Sparing Compared Ben Phalan, Malvika Onial, Andrew P. Balmford et al. · Science Sep 2011 1,704
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is African Botany and Ecology Studies research done?

The largest centres of African Botany and Ecology Studies research in 2022-now are Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), Paris (France), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and Cotonou (Benin). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Daloa, Korhogo and Parakou.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 AbidjanCôte d'Ivoire 164 works
  2. 2 ParisFrance 122 works
  3. 3 OuagadougouBurkina Faso 115 works
  4. 4 CotonouBenin 94 works
  5. 5 Addis AbabaEthiopia 77 works
  6. 6 LoméTogo 61 works
  7. 7 MontpellierFrance 58 works
  8. 8 DakarSenegal 57 works
  9. 9 YaoundéCameroon 56 works
  10. 10 IbadanNigeria 54 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. DaloaCI · 53.5 works364×
  2. KorhogoCI · 35.9 works311×
  3. ParakouBJ · 30.3 works195×
  4. LoméTG · 60.9 works161×
  5. AbidjanCI · 164.4 works150×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See African Botany and Ecology Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study African Botany and Ecology Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Bahir Dar University, Addis Ababa University and Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo score highest, combining citation 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 16.81%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Bahir Dar UniversityUniversity of Johann…Addis Ababa UniversityUniversité Joseph Ki…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Bahir Dar UniversityEthiopia 70.131.9%22.2×15 +76.6%
2Addis Ababa UniversityEthiopia 62.118.9%18.0×20 +9.9%
3Université Joseph Ki-ZerboBurkina Faso 60.37.6%200.6×56 +35.8%
4University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 57.231.5%4.5×13 -0.3%
5Hawassa UniversityEthiopia 57.119.6%29.1×13 +80.2%
6Université d'Abomey-CalaviBenin 56.84.7%184.4×83 -4.4%
7University of LoméTogo 56.54.2%198.2×53 +82.7%
8Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyGhana 56.015.3%19.6×20 +11.8%
9Abdelmalek Essaâdi UniversityMorocco 54.118.2%16.8×15 +355.4%
10Université de MontpellierFrance 52.816.2%13.2×21 +4.9%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in African Botany and Ecology Studies, country by country

Is African Botany and Ecology Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 24% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are African Botany and Ecology Studies.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is African Botany and Ecology Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.025% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%African Botany and Ecology Studies0.024% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of African Botany and Ecology Studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%African Botany and Ecology Studies11.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

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.

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