Characteristics and hotspots of forest litter decomposition research: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract The decomposition of forest litter is essential for maintaining forest ecosystem productivity and improving soil fertility. Interdisciplinary collaboration plays a pivotal role in the study of litter decomposition. Nevertheless, existing literature reviews often concentrate on specific hot topics, lacking a more comprehensive and systematic overview of this field. This study was based on the Web of Science core collection of literature. CiteSpace and VOSviewer bibliometric tools were employed to systematically analyze the literature associated with forest litter decomposition from multiple perspectives, published from 1996 to 2023. Publishing trends, literature exchanges, development trends, influential countries, institutions, authors, and journals were identified and discussed. We arrived at the following conclusions that research in this field exhibited a clear trend of rapid growth, particularly after 2016. On one hand, this phenomenon may have been due to the United Nations climate agreement signed in late 2015, while in contrast it was also related to technological and theoretical advances. The United States, China, and Germany are prominent in this field and collaborative research is steadily increasing. Frequently cited articles reveal that advances in theory and technology are of great significance toward the development of the field. The keywords and investigative hotspots in this research domain show a staged development; however, nutrient cycling, carbon dynamics, soil, and root systems are stable hot topics. Future research should strengthen international cooperation, broaden the scope of research, consider a wider range of ecological processes, and delve into fundamental topics such as nutrient cycling, carbon dynamics, soil biology, and litter quality.