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Topic · Ecology

Plant Ecology and Soil Science

Plant Ecology and Soil Science is a research topic within Ecology. Science Explorer counts 14k research works in it since 1950. 6.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the analysis of land cover, ecosystems, water resources, soil properties, and biodiversity. It includes studies on forest management, climate change impacts, remote sensing techniques, and sustainable development in various regions across the globe.

  • Land Cover
  • Ecosystem
  • Water Resources
  • Soil Properties
  • Forest Management
  • Biodiversity
  • Climate Change
  • Remote Sensing
  • Vegetation Analysis
  • Sustainable Development
Research works
14k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
879
per year above
Top-10% rate
6.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
-33%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Plant Ecology and Soil Science research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (707 and 129 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 707 works
  2. 2 United States 129 works
  3. 3 Türkiye 97 works
  4. 4 Iran 63 works
  5. 5 France 56 works
  6. 6 India 47 works
  7. 7 Poland 42 works
  8. 8 Germany 38 works
  9. 9 Italy 35 works
  10. 10 Russia 29 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: 56.9%United States: 10.4%Türkiye: 7.8%Iran: 5.1%6 others listed: 19.8%57%largest
China707 · 56.9%United States129 · 10.4%Türkiye97 · 7.8%Iran63 · 5.1%6 others listed246 · 19.8%

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

Which institutions lead Plant Ecology and Soil Science research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Plant Ecology and Soil Science research, followed by University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Forestry University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 41 works
  2. 2 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 21 works
  3. 3 Beijing Forestry UniversityChina 17 works
  4. 4 Northwest A&F UniversityChina 13 works
  5. 5 Inner Mongolia Agricultural UniversityChina 12 works
  6. 6 Lanzhou UniversityChina 11 works
  7. 7 University of Silesia in KatowicePoland 10 works
  8. 8 Beijing Normal UniversityChina 10 works
  9. 9 Guizhou Normal UniversityChina 10 works
  10. 10 State Forestry and Grassland AdministrationChina 10 works

Who are the leading researchers in Plant Ecology and Soil Science?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Plant Ecology and Soil Science include Josep Peñuelas, Philippe Ciais and Yakov Kuzyakov.

  1. 1 Josep Peñuelas Spain 4.1k citations
  2. 2 Philippe Ciais France 4k citations
  3. 3 Yakov Kuzyakov Germany 2.7k citations
  4. 4 Eric F. Wood United States 2.4k citations

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

Where is Plant Ecology and Soil Science research done?

The largest centres of Plant Ecology and Soil Science research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Lanzhou (China), Nanjing (China) and Ürümqi (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Hohhot, Ürümqi and Guiyang.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 211 works
  2. 2 Lanzhou China 39 works
  3. 3 Nanjing China 30 works
  4. 4 Ürümqi China 28 works
  5. 5 Guiyang China 28 works
  6. 6 Tehran Iran 24 works
  7. 7 Hohhot China 22 works
  8. 8 Harbin China 17 works
  9. 9 Chengdu China 16 works
  10. 10 Kunming China 14 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. HohhotCN · 21.8 works16×
  2. ÜrümqiCN · 27.9 works16×
  3. GuiyangCN · 27.7 works13×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Plant Ecology and Soil Science on the map

Where is the best place to study Plant Ecology and Soil Science?

Among universities, judged by research, Guizhou Normal University, Beijing Forestry University and Northwest A&F University 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 24.13%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Guizhou Normal University: 10, 42.2%Beijing Forestry University: 17, 28.8%Northwest A&F University: 13, 31.2%Lanzhou University: 12, 26.9%Beijing Normal University: 10, 43.8%Guizhou University: 9, 28.2%Ilia State University: 9, 2.0%Northeast Forestry University: 9, 24.0%Inner Mongolia Agricultural University: 12, 14.2%University of Veterinary Medicine in Košice: 8, 0.0%Guizhou Normal Unive…Northwest A&F Univer…Beijing Forestry Uni…Lanzhou 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
1 Guizhou Normal UniversityChina 56.142.2%57.5×10 -80.9%
2 Beijing Forestry UniversityChina 54.528.8%35.4×17 -79.4%
3 Northwest A&F UniversityChina 53.731.2%20.2×13 -86.0%
4 Lanzhou UniversityChina 48.626.9%11.9×12 -81.1%
5 Beijing Normal UniversityChina 46.243.8%8.8×10 -58.2%
6 Guizhou UniversityChina 44.928.2%9.9×9 -86.0%
7 Ilia State UniversityGeorgia 43.32.0%67.5×9 —
8 Northeast Forestry UniversityChina 42.424.0%17.3×9 -72.9%
9 Inner Mongolia Agricultural UniversityChina 39.514.2%52.0×12 -83.0%
10 University of Veterinary Medicine in KošiceSlovakia 37.20.0%168.2×8 —

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 Plant Ecology and Soil Science research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 33% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2011.

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.