Analysis of publication trends in ecosystem services research

Scholarly journal publications on the topic of ecosystem services have substantially grown throughout the past decade, which is evidenced by an expanding world-wide research base. However, several challenges in the field of ecosystem services still remain, including conflicting approaches to ecosystem services terminology, classification schemes, research methods, and reporting requirements. We assess the development and disciplinary focus of ecosystem service research over the last decade using a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed journal publications. The journals of Shengtai Xuebao Acta Ecologica Sinica, Ecosystem Services, PLoS One, and Ecological Economics lead scholarly journals publishing ecosystem services-focused articles. The European Union leads ecosystem services publications (42%), while the United States is responsible for 30% of ecosystem services publications. This analysis is supplemented by a discussion on ecosystem services-focused research and policy to identify trends that encourage future study to resolve some of the current issues faced by the research community.