ReviewAnnals of botany2025
Science mapping of root ecology: a bibliometric review covering 2015-2024.
Review in Annals of botany, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsRoot ecology has rapidly advanced as a key discipline for understanding plant adaptive strategies and ecosystem functioning. However, comprehensive assessments of its overarching framework remain limited. This study provides a global perspective by systematically analysing research power, intellectual bases and research frontiers in root ecology.
methodsWe analysed 35 371 articles from the Web of Science Core Collection using CiteSpace and VOSviewer within a customized bibliometric framework. Co-occurrence analyses based on publication volume, citation frequency and micro-citation labels revealed the spatiotemporal distribution of research power. Intellectual bases and research frontiers were identified through document co-citation and cluster analyses. KEY
resultsThe results indicate a three-phase growth trajectory in root ecology research over the past decade. China (13 027 articles) and the USA (5679 articles) dominate global academic output. Frontiers in Plant Science (2721 articles) and Plant and Soil (1436 articles) are the leading journals in terms of publication volume. Key articles forming the intellectual base of this field were identified and interpreted, encompassing six major aspects, including method standardization and the root economics spectrum theory. The research frontiers were clustered into five core themes - abiotic stress, microbial symbiosis, ecological remediation, functional traits and physiological mechanisms - which were further subdivided into 19 specific research directions.
conclusionsRoot ecology is evolving from a primarily theoretical discipline towards practical applications. To support sustainable agriculture, ecological restoration and carbon neutrality, the development of global observation networks and multifactorial stress models should be further advanced.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.