A bibliometric review of ecological research on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, 1990–2019

Abstract Ecological research on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) has become a hotspot in recent years, and a great number of related research papers have been published. Here, a bibliometrics method was utilized to analyze 4315 papers from the Web of Science published from 1990 to 2019, and a comprehensive overview based on metrics, including the publication growth, first author’ institutions and countries, research areas, international cooperation, high-impact journals and papers, and research hotspots and topics, is presented. The results revealed the following: (1) The number of published papers has grown exponentially, with China and India being the main research countries. However, China and the USA have the greatest weights in country cooperation. The Chinese Academy of Sciences has a relatively strong influence and plays the leading role in institutional cooperation. Wang Shiping, Zhang Zhenhua, Luo Caiyun, and seven other authors are highly influential. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY is the scientific journal that has published the greatest number of papers on the subject, and ‘Environmental Sciences & Ecology’ is the key research area; (2) Grazing, Precipitation, Soil moisture, Aboveground biomass, and Temperature are the top five core keywords. The research hotspots were mainly ecosystem services, biodiversity research, forest protection, and ecological adaptation under the background of climate change; and (3) Both new and old research topics appear in the periods 1990–1999, 2000–2009, 2010–2014, and 2015–2019, but all the periods focused on the impacts of rising temperature on natural elements, such as soil, forests, rivers, and lakes. Many recent also focused on the harmonious coexistence of human beings and nature. On the basis of these findings, some research suggestions and agendas are proposed for future research on the QTP. This is the first visualization and analysis of the hotspots and trends in ecological research on the QTP.