Global trends in deforestation research: A spatiotemporal bibliometric analysis

Deforestation poses a significant threat to global ecosystems, contributing to biodiversity loss, climate change, and socio-economic challenges. While extensive research has been conducted on deforestation, a comprehensive analysis of global research trends, key contributors, and thematic areas requires further investigation. This study aims to bridge this gap by conducting a bibliometric analysis of deforestation-related publications from 2010 to 2024. To this end, the Scopus database was used to collect and analyze 15529 studies, focusing on English-language journal articles and reviews. The analysis revealed the spatial distribution of deforestation research, identifying major hotspots such as Brazil, Indonesia, China, India, and Ethiopia. Furthermore, most research was related to the field of Environmental Science, followed by Social Sciences and Agricultural and Biological Sciences, with consistent growth in publication trends across these subject areas. The study also identified the top contributing journals, such as Forest Ecology and Management, and the most cited articles and review papers to explore the research themes, like deforestation drivers, mitigation strategies, and policy development.