Affiliation:
1. College of Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang University, Ürümqi 830046, China
2. College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China
3. College of Pharmacy, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise 533000, China
4. College of Plant Sciences, XPCC Key Laboratory of Protection and Utilization of Biological Resources in Tarim Basin, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China
Abstract
Improving the carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems can effectively reduce atmospheric CO2, which is one of the important ways of mitigating global climate change. The knowledge on terrestrial carbon stock research is relatively mature in the international community; however, the research pulse, hotspots, and trends in terrestrial ecosystems carbon stock research are not clear. To better understand the research focus and developmental directions of terrestrial ecosystems’ carbon storage, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of 6305 research articles between 2002 and 2022, which were gathered from the Web of Science Core Database. The temporal distribution, country/region distribution, co-citation network, keyword evolution and clustering, journals, and authors of the literature were analyzed, and the knowledge domain was mapped using the CiteSpace visualization software. This study established the following three observations: (1) The number of publications on carbon stock research in terrestrial ecosystems continues to expand, and the trend in the number of publications proves that carbon sinks in terrestrial systems remain an important research topic internationally. (2) Important issues concerning terrestrial ecosystem carbon stock research have evolved from monitoring the carbon stock changes in terrestrial ecosystems to the mechanism of carbon stock formation for the realization of monitoring and management under global climate change. Furthermore, the research methodology has evolved from small-scale, fixed-point instrumental observations to large-scale remote sensing and model simulations, with diversifications in research content and methodology. (3) In the future, academic research on carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems will focus more on international and interdisciplinary cooperations, increasing the intensity in surveying and monitoring carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems, and realizing the accurate monitoring, assessment, management, and enhancement of carbon stocks from the integrated carbon stock computation system for “sky, air, and land.” The results of this study comprehensively demonstrate the current status and development of the research on carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, and provide a reference for future research on the sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems within the context of global warming.
Funder
Third Xinjiang Scientific Expedition and Research Program of the Ministry of Science & Technology of China
National Natural Science Foundation of China
International Science and Technology Cooperation Project of the Science & Technology Department of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region