Current patterns and future perspectives of best management practices research: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Best management practices (BMPs), as pollution control systems to improve the water environment, were proposed by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1972 (Ice et al. 2010). Best management practices were initially designed for the purpose of controlling soil erosion (Logan 1993). As nonpoint source (NPS) pollution has caused major water quality degradation and threatened the safety of water resources worldwide, BMPs have been recommended as an effective tool used widely to reduce NPS pollution (D'Arcy and Frost 2001; Giri et al. 2012; Ice 2004). Countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, first initiated BMPs and have had successful experience in agricultural NPS pollution control since the 1970s (Krivak 1978; Mueller et al. 1981). Over the span of a few decades, the application of BMPs has accelerated, and new practices (e.g., stormwater management, watershed management, low impact development, and critical source areas [CSAs]) have been continuously put forward (Martin-Mikle et al. 2015; Niraula et al. 2013; Sage et al. 2015; Zhang et al. 2015). In recent years, several in-depth studies of BMPs have been carried out, such as the Conservation Effect Assessment Project in the United States (Simon and Klimetz 2008), the Watershed Evaluation of Beneficial Management…