Role of phylogenetic relatedness and trait similarity in biological invasion success: research progress, prospects, and insights from a bibliometric analysis

Biological invasions are a major cause of species extinction and biodiversity loss. Exotic predators are the type of introduced species that have the greatest negative impact, causing the extinction of hundreds of native species. Despite this, they continue to be intentionally introduced by humans. Understanding the causes that determine the success of these invasions is a challenge within the field of invasion biology. Mathematical models play a crucial role in understanding and predicting the behavior of exotic species in different ecosystems. This study examines the effect of predation and competition on the invasion success of an exotic generalist predator in a native predator-prey system. Considering that the exotic predator both consumes the native prey and competes with the native predator, it is necessary to study the interplay between predation and competition, as one of these interspecific interactions may either counteract or contribute to the impact of the other on the success of a biological invasion. Through a mathematical model, represented by a system of ordinary differential equations, it is possible to describe four different scenarios upon the arrival of the exotic predator in a native predator-prey system. The conditions for each of these scenarios are described analytically and numerically. The numerical simulations are performed considering the American mink (Mustela vison), an invasive generalist predator. The results highlight the importance of considering the interplay between interspecific interactions for understanding biological invasion success.

This study aims to assess the global progress in research on the impact of forest therapy on mental health by using bibliometric analysis. We analyzed the relevant literature from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database by utilizing software tools such as Bibliometrix (Version 4.1), VOSviewer (Version 1.6.19), and CiteSpace (Version 6.3.R1). There appears to be a growing trend in annual publication volumes from 2006 to 2023. Miyazaki was identified as the most prolific author in this field. Japan and South Korea lead in research contributions, while China has the highest number of publications. The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is the journal with the most publications and citations in this area. Recent keyword clustering reveals an increasing frequency of studies on anxiety and urban green spaces. Research findings suggest that exposure to negative air ions and compounds released by plants can stimulate the five human senses, reduce cortisol levels, and improve mental health. Although studies have demonstrated significant effects of forest therapy in alleviating stress, anxiety, and depression, more large-scale and long-term studies are needed for further evidence. Additionally, it is crucial to explore the impact of different forest types, terrains, altitudes, climates, and air conditions on the effectiveness of forest therapy on mental health.

Despite this growing interest, there remains a lack of comprehensive and systematic bibliometric analyses of ketamine research. This study aimed to summarize the progress in ketamine research through bibliometric analysis, providing insights into the development and direction of the field. Publications related to ketamine were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database on February 15, 2024. In conducting a comprehensive bibliometric analysis, a variety of bibliographic elements were meticulously collected to map the landscape of research within a specific field. Between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2023, a total of 10,328 articles on ketamine research were published across 1,752 academic journals by 45,891 authors from 8,914 institutions in 128 countries. The publication volume has shown a steady increase over this period. The United States of America (USA) and the People's Republic of China lead in both publication and citation counts. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and Yale University emerge as the most active institutions in this research domain. Carlos Zarate of the NIH National Institute of Mental Health was noted for the highest number of significant publications and received the most co-citations. The analysis revealed key research themes including mechanism of action, adverse events, psychiatric applications, and perioperative implications. This study provided comprehensive bibliometric and knowledge mapping analysis of the global ketamine research landscape, offering valuable insights into the trends, key contributors, and thematic focus areas within the field. By delineating the evolution of ketamine research, this study aims to guide future scholarly endeavors and enhance our understanding of ketamine's therapeutic potential.

BackgroundA bibliometric and visual analysis of articles related to intracranial artery dissection (IAD) was performed to reveal the academic developments in this research field, to better assist researchers in reviewing previous research results, exploring current scientific research hotspots and cutting-edge trends, and obtaining a global perspective on IAD research.MethodsArticles on IAD published from January 1, 2000 to March 15, 2025 were searched, screened, and downloaded using the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). All literature included in the study was analyzed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace and Microsoft Excel.ResultsA total of 1,130 articles were included in the bibliometric analysis from January 2000 to March 2025, with a general upward trend in the number of articles published each year, peaking in 2019 for annual publications. Collaboration network analysis showed that the United States, Japan, and Germany are the more influential countries in the field, with high numbers of published articles, citations, and collaborations with other countries. The journal with the most publications was World Neurosurgery. Lawton MT was the most active author with a cumulative total of 13 articles, while Biller J received the highest number of citations with a cumulative total of 1,033. Keyword analysis of the literature showed that “recanalization “reached the highest intensity of outbreaks, while “thrombectomy “,” outcome “, “risk “, and “diagnosis “showed an increase in citations in 2025, indicating that these subjects continue to be of significant interest.ConclusionThis study explores the evolving research trends and challenges in the area of IAD, presenting a thorough examination of both its historical and current research contexts. It offers valuable direction for future scholarly pursuits. By engaging in comprehensive research and examining various perspectives within the IAD domain, new insights can be uncovered, ultimately facilitating precise diagnosis and effective treatment of the condition.

Aims: The purpose of this current investigation is twofold: first, to review the available literature published in the last twenty years on pediatric nephrolithiasis; and second, to evaluate the progression of research on this topic during the indicated period. In this respect, through bibliometric analysis the present study aims to reveal trends, crucial authors, important institutions and outstanding journals of this line of research. It also takes an attempt to compare the increasing trend of publication productivity and citation frequency and the distribution of the research outputs across the countries/regions of the world to map the progress and potential prospects of pediatric kidney stone research. Methods: The present study aimed to perform a bibliometric analysis of knowledge production. In pediatric kidney stone from 2004 to 2023 using WoS Core Collection. Articles were searched using the term “Kidney Stones in Children” including all articles, reviews and papers indexed, reviews and conference papers. The examination focused on the overall publication output, number of citations received, and journal citation; with methods including keyword frequency, bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis, and co-authorship networks. Element positions, co-occurrence frequencies, and clusters were developed from the data source by using VOSviewer software. The study covered publication distribution, citation behaviour, keyword frequencies, and collaboration map. Results: According to the presented research, the level of academic interest in this topic has risen dramatically over the years, and its popularity peaked in 2020. This result is expected because leading academic centres and name-referenced universities like University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia contributed significantly to the current literature. Ten most preferred journals are Journal of Urology, Journal of Pediatric Urology and many more. The findings reveal the overall international cooperation with especial emphasis on relations between institutions in the US and European countries. Carrying out the keyword analysis, authors have determined that “urolithiasis”, “nephrolithiasis”, and “kidney stones” are the most topical concerns. Aside from general surgery, much of the most frequently cited research is relevant to surgical practices and dietary recommendations. The purpose of this review is to enhance the understanding of the tendencies of the studies the most active contributors and cooperation patterns in the pediatric kidney stones. Conclusion: This bibliometric analysis reveals a significant rise in pediatric kidney stones research, peaking in 2020. Key contributors include the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, with strong international collaborations. Original research articles and top journals, like the Journal of Urology, remain central. The U.S. leads in contributions, with notable input from Turkish institutions.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) pose a significant threat to human health due to their high mortality and morbidity rates. Despite advances in treatments, the prevalence and impact of cardiovascular disease continue to increase. Sodium-glucose transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), initially approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, have important research value and promising applications in reducing CVD risk, especially in heart failure (HF) and atherosclerosis patients with cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). This study aims to comprehensively review the latest progress, research trends, cutting-edge hot spots, and future development directions of SGLT2i in the field of CVD through bibliometric analysis. Articles related to MSCs in cardiovascular diseases were sourced from the Web of Science. The bibliometric analysis was conducted using CiteSpace and VOSviewer, and a knowledge map was created based on the data obtained from the retrieved articles. In this article, we screened 3,476 relevant studies, including 2,293 articles and 1,183 reviews. The analysis found that the number of papers related to the application of SGLT2i in CVD has generally increased, peaking in 2022. The United States and China contributed the largest number of papers, with the United States accounting for 36.97% of the total and also ranking first in terms of the number of citations. However, China's high-quality papers are slightly lacking and need further improvement. Keyword analysis showed that empagliflozin, dapagliflozin, diabetes, and heart failure were the most common terms, reflecting the main research interests in currently published papers in this field. Bibliometric analysis showed a robust and growing interest in the application of SGLT2i for treating CVD. By summarizing the latest progress of SGLT2i in the field of CVD, exploring research hotspots, and looking forward to future research development trends, this article provides valuable insights for thinking about research prospects.

Urbanization is a major cause of biotic homogenization and habitat fragmentation for native communities. However, the role of urbanization on the success of biological invasions on a continental scale has yet to be explored. Urbanization may facilitate the establishment success of invasive species by minimizing niche differentiation between native and invaded ranges. In such cases, we might expect anthropogenic variables to have stronger influence on the geographic distribution of invasive compared to native populations. In this study, we use ecological niche modeling to define the distribution of non-native brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus) and three native black widows (L. hespersus, L. mactans, L. variolus) in North America and gauge the importance of urbanization on the geographic ranges of widows at a continental scale. We also quantify the geographic overlap of L. geometricus with each native widow to assess potential species and regions at risk of ecological impact. Consistent with our hypothesis, we find that the distribution of L. geometricus is strongly constrained to urban environments, while native widow distributions are more strongly driven by climatic factors. These results show that urbanization plays a significant role in facilitating the success of invasion, weakening the significance of climate on the realized niche in its invaded range.

Urbanization is a major cause of biotic homogenization and habitat fragmentation for native communities. However, the role of urbanization on the success of biological invasions on a continental scale has yet to be explored. Urbanization may facilitate the establishment success of invasive species by minimizing niche differentiation between native and invaded ranges. In such cases, we might expect anthropogenic variables to have stronger influence on the geographic distribution of invasive compared to native populations. In this study, we use ecological niche modeling to define the distribution of non-native brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus) and three native black widows (L. hespersus, L. mactans, L. variolus) in North America and gauge the importance of urbanization on the geographic ranges of widows at a continental scale. We also quantify the geographic overlap of L. geometricus with each native widow to assess potential species and regions at risk of ecological impact. Consistent with our hypothesis, we find that the distribution of L. geometricus is strongly constrained to urban environments, while native widow distributions are more strongly driven by climatic factors. These results show that urbanization plays a significant role in facilitating the success of invasion, weakening the significance of climate on the realized niche in its invaded range.

Urbanization is a major cause of biotic homogenization and habitat fragmentation for native communities. However, the role of urbanization on the success of biological invasions on a continental scale has yet to be explored. Urbanization may facilitate the establishment success of invasive species by minimizing niche differentiation between native and invaded ranges. In such cases, we might expect anthropogenic variables to have stronger influence on the geographic distribution of invasive compared to native populations. In this study, we use ecological niche modeling to define the distribution of non-native brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus) and three native black widows (L. hespersus, L. mactans, L. variolus) in North America and gauge the importance of urbanization on the geographic ranges of widows at a continental scale. We also quantify the geographic overlap of L. geometricus with each native widow to assess potential species and regions at risk of ecological impact. Consistent with our hypothesis, we find that the distribution of L. geometricus is strongly constrained to urban environments, while native widow distributions are more strongly driven by climatic factors. These results show that urbanization plays a significant role in facilitating the success of invasion, weakening the significance of climate on the realized niche in its invaded range.

Urbanization is a major cause of biotic homogenization and habitat fragmentation for native communities. However, the role of urbanization on the success of biological invasions on a continental scale has yet to be explored. Urbanization may facilitate the establishment success of invasive species by minimizing niche differentiation between native and invaded ranges. In such cases, we might expect anthropogenic variables to have stronger influence on the geographic distribution of invasive compared to native populations. In this study, we use ecological niche modeling to define the distribution of non-native brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus) and three native black widows (L. hespersus, L. mactans, L. variolus) in North America and gauge the importance of urbanization on the geographic ranges of widows at a continental scale. We also quantify the geographic overlap of L. geometricus with each native widow to assess potential species and regions at risk of ecological impact. Consistent with our hypothesis, we find that the distribution of L. geometricus is strongly constrained to urban environments, while native widow distributions are more strongly driven by climatic factors. These results show that urbanization plays a significant role in facilitating the success of invasion, weakening the significance of climate on the realized niche in its invaded range.

Biological invasions have become one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity and ecosystem conservation. Most previous studies have revealed how successful invasive species adapt to new environments and climate change through phenotypic and genetic evolution. Some researchers suggested that understanding unsuccessful or less successful biological invasions might be important for understanding the relationships between invasion adaptability and climate factors. We compared the sexual reproduction ability, genetic diversity, and gene × environment interaction in two intentionally introduced alien species in China (Spartina anglica and Spartina alterniflora) based on restriction site-associated DNA (RAD) sequencing. After more than 50 years, the distribution of S. alterniflora has rapidly expanded, while S. anglica has experienced extreme dieback. A total of 212,939 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for the two Spartina species were used for analysis. The multilocus genotype (MLG) analysis revealed that clonal reproduction was the prevalent mode of reproduction in both species, indicating that a change in the mode of reproduction was not the key factor enabling successful invasion by Spartina. All genetic diversity indicators (He, Ho, π) in S. alterniflora populations were at least two times higher than those in S. anglica populations, respectively (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the population genetic structure and stronger patterns of climate-associated loci provided support for rapid adaptive evolution in the populations of S. alterniflora in China. Altogether, our results highlight the importance of genetic diversity and local adaptation, which were driven by multiple source populations, in increasing the invasiveness of S. alterniflora.

ObjectivesLupus nephritis is a prevalent renal manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and represents a significant cause of morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. This study endeavors to undertake a meticulous bibliometric analysis of LN publications to comprehend the research hotspots and future directions.MethodsThe literature on LN was acquired from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Co-occurrence and cooperative relationship analysis of authors, institutions, countries, journals, references and keywords in the publication was performed through CiteSpace, VOSviewer and a bibliometric online analysis platform. The knowledge graphs were created, and clustering and emergence analyses were performed.ResultsAccording to the search strategy, a total of 2077 publications related to lupus nephritis (LN) have been identified, with China being the largest contributor globally. The Ohio State University emerged as the most prolific institution. Lupus is the most cited and published journal. Jan J Weening and Brad Rovin were the most prolific and cocited authors. The current research focus revolved around the “nirp3 inflammasome,” “biomarker,” and “voclosporin”. “international society,” “thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA),” and “pathway” were identified to be future research hotpots by keyword burst analysis.ConclusionsThis bibliometric analysis summarizes for the first time the progress of LN research (2012–2022), and qualitatively and quantitatively evaluates the bibliometric information of LN research. There has been a steady increase in the scientific literature on LN over the past 11 years, with an average growth rate of 7.27%. In this field, researchers are primarily based in China and the United States. The pathogenic mechanisms, management strategies and prognostic outcomes of LN are acknowledged as prospective research hotspots. Bibliometrically, the research status and trends of LN publications may greatly assist and be a significant reference for future research in the area.

The development of whole slide image and deep neural network technologies has contributed to the paradigm shift in diagnostic pathology and has received much attention from researchers, with related publications increasing yearly and "exploding" in recent years. However, few studies have systematically reviewed "digital pathology" using bibliometric tools. In this study, we will use multiple approaches to visualize and analyze "digital pathology" to provide a comprehensive and objective picture of the field's historical evolution and future development. We use VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Gephi, and R to analyze the authors, institutional and national collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence, and co-citation analysis to visualize the current status of global digital pathology research. Digital pathology-related research is mainly active in "molecular, biological, and immunology" journal groups, "pharmaceutical, medical, and clinical" journal groups, and "psychology, education, and health" journal groups; in addition to "digital pathology," "diagnosis," "deep learning," "histopathology," and "surgical pathology" are also active research topics; the U.S. has significant research results in digital pathology, with the top 10 publishing institutions all coming from the U.S. In the past two decades, global digital pathology-related research can be divided into two major research areas. One is about system verification and optimization of WSI, and the other is about the application and development of artificial intelligence technology in digital pathology. Among them, based on the development of computer technology and the update of the machine learning concept, the research results for deep neural network technologies have been more concentrated in recent years. The robust performance of deep neural networks in feature extraction and image analysis provides a new research direction for improving digital pathology-aided diagnosis systems, which is where the research hotspots have been in recent years. The bibliometric analysis may help better understand the current status of research within the field of digital pathology and provide references and lessons for future related research.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common endocrine disorder, affects women of reproductive age, and its adverse consequences affect women throughout their lifespan, from adolescence to postmenopause. The prevalence of depression is much higher in women with PCOS than in healthy controls. Thus, it is recommended that depressive syndrome be screened routinely in all patients with PCOS at diagnosis. To date, no comprehensive bibliometric analysis has been conducted in this field. Therefore, we conducted a bibliometric analysis to describe the current status, trends, and hotspots of PCOS research related to depression. Using data retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database from 1993 to 2024, bibliometric analyses were performed using WoS and CiteSpace software. Since the first paper was published in 1993, studies related to PCOS and depression have remained rare in the following decade. Since the establishment of the Rotterdam criteria in 2003, research on the etiology, pathogenesis, and treatment of PCOS with depressive syndrome has entered a booming period. The United States and Australia indisputably took leading positions in this area, with the most outstanding institutions in the world being the University of Pennsylvania and Monash University. Although achievements have flourished since 2003, the exact pathogenesis of PCOS remains uncertain owing to its heterogeneity. New research is rapidly increasing to fill these gaps and to push forward the goal of improving the quality of life in women with PCOS and depression. Along with progress in research, the world's leading societies organize conferences every 5 years to update guidelines for the assessment and management of PCOS. "Oxidative stress," "inflammation," "obstructive sleep apnea," "gut microbiota," and "single nucleotide polymorphism" appeared as new hotspots in the recent 5 years. A bibliometric analysis was performed to describe the trends and hotspots of research in women with PCOS and depression to attract the attention of more researchers to this topic. https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/basic-search.

This study aimed to investigate the global research status, hot topics, and prospects in the field of sinonasal inverted papilloma (SNIP) through bibliometric analysis. The literature on SNIP was retrieved and downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection from 2002 to 2021. The bibliometric and visualisation networks of SNIP were constructed using VOSviewer 1.6.18, CiteSpace 6.1. R2, and a bibliometric online analysis platform. A total of 560 original articles about SNIP research were included, involving 2,457 authors from 610 institutions in 45 countries. The number of SNIP publications showed an overall rising trend, with an average annual output of 28 articles and almost 3 times as many articles published in 2020 as in 2002. The analysis of keyword burst detection indicated that EGFR mutation, malignant transformation and infection are emerging research hotspots. Moreover, EGFR mutation, KRAS mutation, malignant tumour, metallothionein 2a gene, pre-operative diagnosis, HPV-negative tumour, and expression were among the 11 key clusters of co-cited references. This study provided a comprehensive, systematic, and objective analysis and visualised knowledge map of SNIP over the past 2 decades. In particular, current hotspots and prospective trends in the field of SNIP have been identified. These results highlight the future direction of SNIP research for rhinologists.