Investigating the knowledge gap in research on climate and land use change impacts on water resources, with a focus on groundwater resources in South Africa: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Climate and land use change (CLUC) impact studies on water and groundwater resources have evolved in recent years. To determine whether all research gaps have been or are being addressed through the current intellectual structure, a bibliometric analysis, as well as a record review, was enacted to determine the intellectual structure of CLUC impacts on water resources, with a particular focus on the implications for groundwater resources research in the Breede Gouritz Water Management Area (BGWMA) in South Africa. Methods applied included publication-related trends and science mapping. This study found that CLUC impact research being published has increased by 600% between 2014 and 2021, localised research is being done in 95 countries, and land use change (LUC), specifically urbanisation, is being considered more often as a variable. However, a few gaps in the research remain, including smaller spatiotemporal scales in more locations, a stronger focus on LUC in all its forms, LUC versus climate change (CC) impact studies, and multi-modal approaches to related research. CLUC impacts on water and groundwater resources research have made significant progress over the years, but more research is necessary to make this a robust area of research.