Visualized analysis of the trend and hotspots in microbial spatial ecology: a bibliometric study from 2000 to 2020

Spatial ecology is a broad-spectrum term used in a variety of studies depending on the subdiscipline of life. Spatial ecological studies focus on patterns and interactions within and between species at the local, regional and global scales. The scientific literature published on spatial microbial ecology is ample and covers a wide array of objectives, including biogeographic patterns of microorganisms, international collaboration, hot topics, keywords and productive journals. We used a science mapping approach to provide a global and systematic bibliometric synthesis in this area. A total of 7022 publications on spatial microbial ecology were retrieved from the Web of Science database in 2000–2020. Temporal analyses showed a rapid growth in publications and citations noted after 2010. Results based on cluster analysis revealed that the top productive countries in this area belong to developed countries other than China. Keyword analysis showed that diversity, bacteria and dynamics are research hotspots in this field. The citation burst indicated that researchers focused on traditional techniques in the early stage, while new techniques and models were developed in the later stage. These findings suggest that spatial microbial ecology is still in a developmental stage. This study provides a systematic understanding of the development and panoramic road map for conducting future research in spatial microbial ecology.