Heterogeneity of Spatial-Temporal Distribution of Nitrogen in the Karst Rocky Desertification Soils and Its Implications for Ecosystem Service Support of the Desertification Control—A Literature Review

Abstract

In recent years, the study of soil nitrogen distribution (SND) in rocky desertification control ecosystems has increased exponentially. Rocky desertification experiences severe environmental degradation due to its fragile nature, and understanding rocky desertification soil nitrogen (SN) is critical for ecosystem services (ES) to support sustainable development. From the perspective of bibliometrics, this paper systematically, comprehensively, qualitatively and quantitatively describes the progress, trends and hotspots of SND in the field of rocky desertification environment. The results show that: 97.40% of the document type is “Article”; the study of rocky desertification SND shows the characteristics of rapid growth, the volume of published articles in the past three years accounted for 34.30% of the total; active countries are mainly China, Germany, United States, Sweden, Finland, etc. The research hotspots in this field include karst and nitrogen, and the future research hotspots tend to focus on karst rocky desertification ecosystem, soil nutrients and vegetation diversity in south China. It is suggested to construct SN management strategy suitable for rocky desertification fragile ecosystems in the future, strengthen theoretical research and comprehensively understand the characteristics of rocky desertification control ecosystem to put forward sustainable management strategy according to local conditions.