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Topic · Ecology

Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity is a research topic within Ecology. Science Explorer counts 10k research works in it since 1950. 10.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the ecological dynamics, human impact, and management challenges of the African Great Lakes, with a focus on Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Malawi. It covers topics such as eutrophication, fisheries sustainability, wetland conservation, biodiversity loss, water quality, and the impact of climate change on these fragile ecosystems.

  • Lake Victoria
  • Lake Tanganyika
  • Lake Malawi
  • Eutrophication
  • Fisheries Management
  • Wetland Conservation
  • Biodiversity Loss
  • Water Quality
  • Human Impact
  • Climate Change
Research works
10k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+19%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Nigeria
19% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Which countries lead Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity research?

By volume, Nigeria and India publish the most (242 and 192 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Nigeria 242 works
  2. 2 India 192 works
  3. 3 United States 155 works
  4. 4 Kenya 137 works
  5. 5 Ethiopia 130 works
  6. 6 China 129 works
  7. 7 South Africa 72 works
  8. 8 Russia 70 works
  9. 9 Tanzania 66 works
  10. 10 France 66 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: 19.2%India: 15.2%United States: 12.3%Kenya: 10.9%6 others listed: 42.3%19%largest
Nigeria242 · 19.2%India192 · 15.2%United States155 · 12.3%Kenya137 · 10.9%6 others listed533 · 42.3%

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

Which institutions lead Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity research, followed by University of Zambia and Institute of Natural Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 33 works
  2. 2 University of ZambiaZambia 29 works
  3. 3 Institute of Natural SciencesBelgium 27 works
  4. 4 Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research InstituteKenya 26 works
  5. 5 Bahir Dar UniversityEthiopia 23 works
  6. 6 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 22 works
  7. 7 Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchIndia 20 works
  8. 8 Addis Ababa UniversityEthiopia 19 works
  9. 9 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 17 works
  10. 10 Université d'Abomey-CalaviBenin 17 works

Who are the leading researchers in Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity include Paul M. Thompson, Carl Folke and Yuming Guo.

  1. 1 Paul M. Thompson United States 196k citations
  2. 2 Carl Folke Sweden 182k citations
  3. 3 Yuming Guo Australia 175k citations
  4. 4 Stephen R. Carpenter United States 165k citations
  5. 5 Marten Scheffer Netherlands 122k 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 Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity?

The most cited paper in Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity is "Ecological Methodology" (Geraint Parry, Michael Sylvester Johnson, R. M. Bell et al., 1984), with 5,334 citations. Next come "Cichlid Fish Diversity Threatened by Eutrophication That Curbs Sexual Selection" (1,322) and "The dry weight estimate of biomass in a selection of Cladocera, Copepoda and Rotifera from the plankton, periphyton and benthos of continental waters" (1,274).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Ecological Methodology Geraint Parry, Michael Sylvester Johnson, R. M. Bell et al. Book chapter 1984 5,334
2 Cichlid Fish Diversity Threatened by Eutrophication That Curbs Sexual Selection Ole Seehausen, Jacques J. M. van Alphen, Frans Witte · Science 19 Sep 1997 1,322
3 The dry weight estimate of biomass in a selection of Cladocera, Copepoda and Rotifera from the plankton, periphyton and benthos of continental waters Henri Jean Dumont, Isabella Van de Velde, Simonne Dumont · Oecologia Mar 1975 1,274
4 Speciation through sensory drive in cichlid fish Ole Seehausen, Yohey Terai, Isabel Santos Magalhaes et al. · Nature Open access Oct 2008 1,108
5 Adaptive evolution and explosive speciation: the cichlid fish model Thomas D. Kocher · Nature Reviews Genetics Review Apr 2004 1,070
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity research done?

The largest centres of Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity research in 2022-now are Nairobi (Kenya), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Lusaka (Zambia) and Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Mombasa, Abidjan and Bahir Dar.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 NairobiKenya 47 works
  2. 2 Addis AbabaEthiopia 42 works
  3. 3 LusakaZambia 38 works
  4. 4 AbidjanCôte d'Ivoire 37 works
  5. 5 KampalaUganda 37 works
  6. 6 BeijingChina 36 works
  7. 7 MoscowRussia 34 works
  8. 8 BrusselsBelgium 31 works
  9. 9 MombasaKenya 29 works
  10. 10 Port HarcourtNigeria 28 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. MombasaKE · 29.0 works511×
  2. AbidjanCI · 36.6 works75×
  3. Bahir DarET · 24.1 works59×
  4. LusakaZM · 37.6 works56×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity than the world average.

See Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity on the map

Where is the best place to study Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity?

Among universities, judged by research, Bahir Dar University, Addis Ababa University and University of Zambia 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%10%20%mean 8.15%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Bahir Dar UniversityAddis Ababa UniversityMakerere UniversityUniversity of Zambia
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.

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 76.815.6%74.6×23 +46.0%
2Addis Ababa UniversityEthiopia 64.415.5%38.6×19 -5.4%
3University of ZambiaZambia 51.12.1%96.6×29 -
4Makerere UniversityUganda 50.85.4%44.0×17 +29.5%
5Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural ResourcesMalawi 44.011.5%356.9×9 +100.0%
6Sokoine University of AgricultureTanzania 40.79.8%86.3×11 +3.8%
7University of NairobiKenya 36.99.3%45.6×14 -25.4%
8Université d'Abomey-CalaviBenin 34.72.5%83.6×17 -5.6%
9University of Port HarcourtNigeria 27.50.0%45.0×16 +23.9%
10University of EldoretKenya 26.29.8%207.9×9 -36.6%

Universities only. The score blends 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 Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity, country by country

Is Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 19% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity.

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 Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0076% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity0.011% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity 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%Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity10.7% 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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