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Topic · Soil Science

Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics

Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics is a research topic within Soil Science. Science Explorer counts 61k research works in it since 1950. 32.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the dynamics of soil carbon, nitrogen cycling, and microbial communities in various ecosystems. It investigates topics such as soil carbon sequestration, biochar application, nutrient limitation, and the impact of climate change on soil fertility and ecosystem functioning. The research also delves into the interactions between soil microbial communities and plant diversity, with a focus on understanding global biogeochemical cycles.

  • Soil Carbon Sequestration
  • Nitrogen Cycle
  • Microbial Communities
  • Climate Change
  • Biochar Application
  • Ecosystem Functioning
  • Soil Fertility
  • Organic Matter Dynamics
  • Nutrient Limitation
  • Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Research works
61k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
20k
per year above
Top-10% rate
32.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+43%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (5.6k and 1.3k works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 5.6k works
  2. 2 United States 1.3k works
  3. 3 India 886 works
  4. 4 Brazil 479 works
  5. 5 Germany 387 works
  6. 6 Australia 316 works
  7. 7 France 282 works
  8. 8 Russia 271 works
  9. 9 Canada 261 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 217 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: 55.9%United States: 13.2%India: 8.8%Brazil: 4.8%6 others listed: 17.3%56%largest
China5,609 · 55.9%United States1,319 · 13.2%India886 · 8.8%Brazil479 · 4.8%6 others listed1,736 · 17.3%

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

Which institutions lead Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics research, followed by University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Northwest A&F University.

Who are the leading researchers in Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics include David Tilman, C. A. Edwards and Josep Peñuelas.

  1. 1 David Tilman United States 6.9k citations
  2. 2 C. A. Edwards United States 4.6k citations
  3. 3 Josep Peñuelas Spain 4.1k citations
  4. 4 Peter B. Reich United States 4.1k citations
  5. 5 Philippe Ciais France 4k citations
  6. 6 Yong Sik Ok South Korea 3.3k citations
  7. 7 D. S. Jenkinson United States 3.3k citations
  8. 8 Markus Reichstein Germany 3.2k citations

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

Where is Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics research done?

The largest centres of Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Nanjing (China), Lanzhou (China) and Harbin (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Yangling, Harpenden and Xiaodian.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 1.5k works
  2. 2 Nanjing China 349 works
  3. 3 Lanzhou China 203 works
  4. 4 Harbin China 172 works
  5. 5 Changchun China 157 works
  6. 6 Yangling China 151 works
  7. 7 Guangzhou China 141 works
  8. 8 Shenyang China 117 works
  9. 9 Hangzhou China 113 works
  10. 10 Kunming China 113 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. YanglingCN · 66.2 works120×
  2. HarpendenGB · 20.7 works78×
  3. XiaodianCN · 50.5 works30×
  4. YanglingCN · 151.4 works30×
  5. HunanCN · 31.3 works29×
← less than its size predictsmore →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics than the world average.

See Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics on the map

Where is the best place to study Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics?

Among universities, judged by research, Northwest A&F University, China Agricultural University and Nanjing Agricultural 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%60%mean 43.05%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Northwest A&F University: 151, 46.9%China Agricultural University: 124, 46.9%Nanjing Agricultural University: 85, 49.0%Huazhong Agricultural University: 50, 46.1%University of Göttingen: 33, 49.5%The University of Agriculture, Peshawar: 11, 41.7%University of Agriculture Faisalabad: 20, 35.5%Qinghai University: 39, 35.3%Wageningen University & Research: 46, 39.4%University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: 166, 40.2%Nanjing Agricultural…Northwest A&F Univer…China Agricultural U…Huazhong Agricultura…
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 Northwest A&F UniversityChina 72.746.9%29.9×151 +61.6%
2 China Agricultural UniversityChina 68.546.9%17.2×124 +11.4%
3 Nanjing Agricultural UniversityChina 67.349.0%17.0×85 +6.1%
4 Huazhong Agricultural UniversityChina 66.946.1%11.4×50 +69.6%
5 University of GöttingenGermany 64.649.5%9.5×33 +26.5%
6 The University of Agriculture, PeshawarPakistan 64.241.7%17.3×11 +144.3%
7 University of Agriculture FaisalabadPakistan 63.635.5%10.3×20 +129.7%
8 Qinghai UniversityChina 63.535.3%18.4×39 +151.4%
9 Wageningen University & ResearchNetherlands 62.739.4%9.9×46 +14.6%
10 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 62.140.2%7.8×166 +31.5%

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 Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 43% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics.

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.