Next Article in Journal
Experimental Study to Determine the Leakage Area of Single-Leaf Smoke Control Doors in the Design of Pressure Differential Systems
Next Article in Special Issue
Drivers of Structural and Functional Resilience Following Extreme Fires in Boreal Forests of Northeast China
Previous Article in Journal
Fire Protection of Utility Pine Wood Poles
Previous Article in Special Issue
Research on Wildfire and Soil Water: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1990 to 2023
 
 
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Fire Carbon Cycle Research Is on the Rise: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1989–2023

1
National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of China, Beijing 100085, China
2
College of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Submission received: 14 October 2024 / Revised: 23 December 2024 / Accepted: 23 December 2024 / Published: 24 December 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Climate Change on Fire Danger)

Abstract

:
Understanding how fires impact the carbon cycle is crucial for developing effective climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Although there is a substantial global body of research on fire carbon cycle (FCC), there are relatively few studies offering graphical and quantitative analyses. To assess the trends in FCC research from 1989 to 2023, we performed a bibliometric analysis using the Science Citation Index—Expanded database. A total of 2408 publications were analyzed in this study. The results revealed that from 1989 to 2023, the quantity of publications in the field of FCC studies increased significantly. However, the average number of citations per paper per year first increased rapidly, followed by a slow increase, and then a decline. The top 10 institutions contributing to FCC research were predominantly based in the United States and the United Kingdom, with these countries also leading in the number of publications and citations. Beyond the keywords “fire” and “carbon” used in collecting literature, “climate-change” and “dynamic” were the top two most prominent research focuses. The topic of research has shifted from 1989 to 2023. Climate, vegetation, and emissions were the basic themes, which were important but not well developed, and will be the focus of future research. Along with climate change, research will focus more and more on fire emissions and modeling.

1. Introduction

Fire is a natural phenomenon and influences patterns and processes within the global ecosystem, and is sometimes a major natural disturbance affecting global ecosystems [1,2]. The occurrence of fires results from a combination of environmental factors, including fire sources, combustibles, and meteorological conditions, with climate being a primary driver [3,4,5,6]. The warming and drying effects of climate change exacerbate the frequency and intensity of forest fires [7,8]. As global temperatures rise and extreme heat and drought events become more common, the incidence of fires has increased [4,9]. Countries such as Australia, the United States, Canada, and Brazil have faced severe consequences due to recurrent forest fires [2,10,11]. These fires influence surface vegetation, release substantial amounts of greenhouse gasses, particulate matter, and other trace gasses, and contribute to soil erosion and air pollution [12,13]. They also have a profound impact on the carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems [14,15,16,17]. Consequently, fire is a significant factor influencing global environmental and climate security.
Fire can alter the carbon balance by releasing stored carbon from vegetation and soils into the atmosphere as CO2, which can influence global carbon budgets [15,18,19,20,21,22]. Additionally, fire can affect carbon sequestration capacity, further affecting the carbon cycle [23,24]. For example, the Blue Book on Forest Fire Carbon Emissions [25], released in 2023, points out that from 2001 to 2022, global forest fires have released a total of 33.9 billion tons of CO2, which could increase atmospheric CO2 concentrations by 4.35 ppm, marking a significant source of carbon emissions.
In addition to directly affecting the carbon cycle through carbon emissions, fires significantly influence terrestrial ecosystems as a major form of disturbance. This impact may be beneficial (such as in the case of prescribed fires). They alter age distribution, species composition, and biogeochemical cycles in nature, thereby modifying the carbon cycle process and carbon allocation within the entire system [1,14,26,27]. The structural and functional changes in post-fire ecosystems can also impact long-term carbon processes. For instance, increased surface temperatures following a fire can accelerate the decomposition rate of litter, affecting the carbon pool and turnover rate of forest litter [28]. Depending on fire intensity, the effects on soil organic carbon vary: high-intensity fires can nearly obliterate soil organic carbon, whereas low-intensity fires may reduce surface organic carbon but increase the organic carbon content in deeper soil layers, leading to a redistribution of soil organic matter rather than a mere decrease [29,30]. Additionally, the short-term warming effect of fires can boost soil animal biomass, which in turn increases soil respiration rates [31].
Bibliometrics, one of the most popular methods for analyzing the quantity and quality of academic publications, can comprehensively evaluate the current research status in a certain field [32]. In addition, bibliometrics can find development trends and research gaps, providing constructive suggestions for future research [33]. This study had three objectives. (1) Provide an overview of changes in scientific output over time in the fire carbon cycle (FCC) research; (2) analyze the research patterns in the FCC field; and (3) identify trends and hotspots for further studies in FCC field under climate change.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Data Collection

Bibliometrics comprehensively utilizes various methods to evaluate academic publications, including computer engineering, database management, statistics, etc. [33]. The bibliometrics method has been widely used in diverse fields and has become a valuable tool for analyzing the development of certain scientific fields, often referred to as “scientific of science” [33,34,35,36]. Although bibliometric methods may take time to capture the latest research trends, they are invaluable in helping emerging researchers identify key research hotspots, trends, and seminal publications [33].
Our research focused on the fire carbon cycle (FCC). We first searched for publications from 1989 to 2023 using the subject “fire and carbon cycle”. This time frame was selected because research before 1989 was limited in the database. The SCI-E database offers extensive coverage of influential global research and includes detailed reference information, enabling effective tracking of trends in FCC research [33].
We performed a preliminary screening of the publications, focusing on 11 key aspects: publication type, keywords, corresponding author, title, abstract, citation count, year, month/day, volume, issue, and digital object identifier. Then, we checked and processed duplicate or misspelled entries. While most data are reliable, discrepancies can arise in the references, such as multiple versions of the same publication or variations in the spelling of authors’ names. Additionally, authors often use only their last names and initials, which can lead to confusion with common names. Periodicals cited may also appear in slightly different forms.
Considering that our focus is on fire in natural environments, including wildfires, prescribed burnings, etc., rather than industrial applications, we conducted a review of all retrieved literature based on their titles and abstracts, and excluded all those related to industrial applications.
After the selection, we reviewed a total of 2408 documents (detailed in Table 1). Then, we downloaded the data and converted the formats as required.

2.2. Data Analysis

Research trends and emerging frontiers are effectively highlighted by frequently used keywords. A word cloud can swiftly display the most important terms, and arrange them alphabetically to reflect their relative significance in the field [32]. In this study, we used a word cloud to display the 50 most popular keywords in the FCC field from 1989 to 2023.
We created a thematic map to analyze the importance of themes [32]. There were four quadrants in the thematic map, including motor themes, highly developed and isolated themes, emerging or declining themes, and basic and transitional themes. The fourth quadrant (bottom right corner) is important for the field, but has not been developed well [37].
We analyzed the time trend of the themes to investigate the evolution of the themes from 1989 to 2023. Based on the interannual variation in the number of publications, and considering the whole decade as a time node, we divided the publications in the FCC field over 34 years into four distinct periods: 1989–2000, 2001–2010, 2011–2020, 2021–2023. Due to the limited number of publications in 1989 and 1990, they were grouped into the period of 1991–2000, so that the first period was from 1989 to 2000. By dividing the time span into these periods, we utilized alluvial maps to visually represent the temporal evolution of themes within the research field [32]. In this visualization, themes are grouped into clusters, with each cluster containing several key terms. The clusters are arranged along a timeline, reflecting the sequence in which they appeared. The weighted inclusion index reflects the transformation of the theme over different periods of time. This timeline chart illustrates the themes within each cluster according to their appearance over the studied years, thereby generating a comprehensive view of how research topics have developed over time.
This study analyzed the relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and the number of publications and citations by different countries to discuss the influence of economics on FCC research. The GDP data was from the World Bank dataset. We analyzed the variation in mean impact factor (IF) of publications with the variation in citations of publications to investigate the influence of quality on citations of a given publication. We calculated the average IF over different publication intervals at each 100 intervals of citation. All analyses were completed using the Bibliometrix package in R 4.3.3 software and SigmaPlot 12.5 software.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Temporal Evolution of Publication and Citation

During 1989–2023, a total of 2408 papers were published in the field of FCC research, showing an increasing trend between years, from 1 paper in 1989 to 169 papers in 2023 (Figure 1). Before 2000, the number of annual publications in the FCC field was less than 20, but after 2013, the number of annual publications exceeded 100. The number of annual publications has shown a rapid increase since 2010, with an average increase of 7 articles per year, about twice that of the period before 2010. The growing number of publications indicates a rising interest in FCC research [38,39].
Although the number of publications showed an increasing trend between years, the number of citations during the research period showed a trend of rapid increase, then a gradual rise, and later an eventual decline. The citations showed an increasing trend before 2015, though it has been decreasing after that (Figure 1). This may be because new publications require longer periods of time to obtain more citations [34,35]. Unlike the relatively stable growth trend in the number of publications, the citation fluctuated between years, which may be due to two reasons. Firstly, classic papers were published in the same year, and secondly, papers were published in high-impact journals that year [34,35]. Researchers often tend to cite classic literature and literature published in high-impact journals. For example, in 1991, two classic papers being published led to a spike in citations; in 2009, due to the publication of multiple articles in high-impact journals such as Science and Nature Geoscience, citation numbers suddenly increased that year as well.

3.2. Basic Characteristics of Publications

3.2.1. Marked Journals

At present, there are 477 published journals in the field of FCC research, of which 254 journals have only published one paper, accounting for 53.2%, and 381 journals have published less than five papers, accounting for 79.9%. This indicates that FCC-related literature is highly dispersed among various journals, mainly concentrated in a few issues. For example, Environmental Research Letters published an article focused on carbon cycle and climate effects of forcing from fire-emitted aerosols [40].
From the perspective of major published journals, Global Change Biology, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Forest Ecology and Management, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Environmental Research Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, Science of the Total Environment, and Biogeosciences journals ranked among the top eight, with over 60 articles published (Table 2). The top 10 journals accounted for 31.5% of all publications.
The results showed that, compared with other journals, journals focused on global change preferred to publish articles in the FCC field, such as Global Change Biology. Journals related to biogeochemical cycles, forests, and environment science also tended to publish articles in the FCC field. For researchers in the FCC field, these types of journals can be given priority consideration when submitting articles.

3.2.2. Marked Country

The number of publications from each country may reflect the level of attention given to the study of FCC in that country, and, to some extent, represent the country’s level of development in this research field [32,34].
There were 102 countries participating in FCC field research (Figure 2a), distributed over six continents. The USA contributed over 5000 papers, significantly surpassing other nations. China followed with over 1000 articles published (Figure 2b). The UK, Germany, Australia, and Canada ranked third to sixth, respectively, with over 700 articles published each (Figure 2a). In countries like the USA and Australia, where fires were prevalent, research on the fire carbon cycle had garnered relatively high attention [41,42,43].
In terms of citations, the USA ranked first with over 70,000 citations, far higher than other countries. The UK followed with approximately one-fourth of the USA’s citation count. Germany, Canada, Australia, and China ranked third to sixth, respectively, with citation counts exceeding 5000 (Figure 2c).
The high number of publications and citations in the USA, China, the UK, Germany, Australia, and Canada are possibly due to their advanced research technologies in the field of FCC [44,45,46]. They have many researchers, high GDPs, and sufficient human and material resources to conduct relevant research. The relationship between GDP and publications (Figure 3a) and citations (Figure 3b) in these countries proves it. In addition, the threat of wildfires in these countries (USA, Australia, and Canada, etc.) promotes the high number of publications and citations. On the other hand, the frequent publication of articles about wildfires in China and the UK, despite their relatively rare occurrence, is due to growing concerns about climate change and its global impact. Good international collaboration in China and the UK with countries such as the USA was also one of the reasons for promoting FCC research in these two countries (Figure 4).

3.2.3. Marked Institutions

A total of 2945 institutions have published articles in the field of FCC. Among the top ten institutions, there were nine in the USA, and one in the UK (Table 3). Among them, the University of Maryland ranked first with 161 publications. A total of 78.5% of institutions had published less than five articles, contributing 25.8% of the total publications, while less than 22% of institutions had contributed over 74% of the publications. This indicates that although there are many institutions in the field of FCC, there is a significant difference in research results between different institutions. Institutions with large publications are relatively concentrated, mainly distributed in countries such as the USA and the UK, which are more concerned about FCC, especially the USA. In these countries, with high levels of technology and larger economies, researchers have conducted early and extensive research in the field of FCC [44,45,46].
It is necessary to strengthen FCC research through cross-institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration by cultivating diverse professional knowledge and promoting cross-regional data sharing. In addition, funding mechanisms play a significant role in promoting large-scale research initiatives and ensuring the long-term sustainability of FCC research. And the most commonly cited case studies in the literature can demonstrate the key contributions and trends of FCC research.

3.2.4. Top Cited Publications

The top ten articles have been cited over 1000 times (Table 4). The analysis of the publication dates and journals of the top ten cited articles reveals that, as research advances, articles published in high-impact journals such as Science and Nature tend to receive higher citation counts [34].
The top ten papers mainly focused on fire emissions and the role of fires in global vegetation dynamics models. The most cited literature was Emission of trace gasses and aerosols from biomass burning, published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles in 2001 by Andreae MO and Merlet P, with 2786 citations. This article focused on the biomass-burning emissions and connecting them to the global carbon cycle, which is crucial for understanding the role of wildfires in the global carbon balance and their impact on atmospheric chemistry [12]. The second most-cited article estimated the burning emissions from peatland [47]. There were two papers focused on the dynamic global vegetation model, which stated that fire disturbance was one of the important ecosystem processes influencing the global carbon cycle [48,49]. The two papers published in Nature and Science revealed the importance of fire carbon emissions for Earth and the Anthropocene [1,50]. It should be noted that the topic of the third ranked paper was nitrogen, which seemed unrelated to FCC. However, fire affected nitrogen, which in turn affected net primary production of ecosystems [51]. Therefore, fire had an indirect impact on the carbon cycle. Therefore, this article also belonged to the research field of FCC and had a high citation due to its early and classic publication.
The relationship of IF and the citation count of publications showed that publications with higher citations might be published in journals with higher impact factors (Figure 5). In addition, articles published earlier might also be cited more frequently.

3.3. Most Popular Keywords

Keywords reflect the most relevant topics and information within the research field [32]. The result of the top 50 most commonly used keywords in the field of FCC research showed that except the keywords “fire” and “carbon” used in the collected literature, “climate-change” (the frequency was 400), and “dynamic” (the frequency was 316) were the top two keywords (Figure 6).
Climate change will lead to an increase in extreme fire weather, resulting in an increasing risk of wildfires [52,53]. Fires exhibit seasonal dynamics, often being more frequent in warm and dry spring seasons and less common during rainy periods [54,55,56]. Additionally, there are notable interannual variations, such as an increasing trend followed by a decreasing trend in China [17]. Consequently, “dynamics” is the key term of interest in the field of FCC research. “Climate” followed, with 247 occurrences, indicating a close relationship between FCC and climate change research [57,58]. Climate change could result in increasing incidences of fires, particularly in drier regions, leading to forest cover loss and higher carbon emissions [2,10,59]. Consequently, “vegetation”, “forest”, “biomass” and “emissions” are also frequently mentioned keywords.

3.4. Thematic Evolution

In addition, “climate”, “vegetation”, and “emissions” were in the fourth quadrant (bottom right) of thematic map of keywords, representing the basic themes, which are important but not well developed, and will be the focus of future research (Figure 7). Increased droughts, warmer temperatures, and other events caused by climate change are likely to increase the frequency and intensity of dangerous fire weather, leading to an increase in wildfires [1,2,60,61,62,63]. Fire carbon emission plays a more important role in the global carbon cycle, and requires further study.
The temporal evolution of themes showed that in the field of FCC research, there were significant changes in keywords at different periods (Figure 8, Table S1). In the early stages of research (1989–2000) the themes were relatively scattered, including different sources, vegetations, methods, data sources, and other types of carbon, such as “organic matter”, “vegetation”, “isotope”, and “satellite data”. During this period, the number of publications in the FCC field was relatively low, and research on FCC was relatively scattered. In the second stage (2001–2010), the number of themes was condensed from 10 to 5, including “fire”, “carbon”, “forest-fire”, “organic matter”, and “boreal forest-fires”. At this stage, the topic was more focused. For example, the theme “elemental carbon” in the first period was mainly turned into “organic matter”; the theme “vegetation” was divided into two parts and turned into “fire” and “carbon”, respectively. As the research progressed, the key topics of research developed towards the relationship between fire and carbon itself. During the period of rapid increase in publication volume (2011–2020), themes were further condensed and focused on “fire”, “emission”, and “organic matter”. The “emission” that appeared in the first stage received renewed attention, while “fire” and “organic matter” continued to receive attention. In recent years (2021–2023), with the development of data and models, “model” has appeared in themes, and “organic matter” has gradually been replaced by “fire” and “carbon cycle”.
The changes in the themes reflect the variations in research hotspots in recent years [37]. In the early stages of research, researchers focused on relatively scattered topics involving multiple fields, including the carbon cycle and various related aspects. For example, the article “Nitrogen Limitation on Land and in the Sea—How Can It Occur” published in Biochemistry in 1991 mainly focused on the topic of nitrogen, but, as the cycles of carbon and nitrogen are coupled, this article is also included in the FCC field. Carbon emissions from fires have already received attention from researchers at this stage [64,65,66]. Since thebottom-up biomass combustion model published in 1980, emissions from biomass combustion have been evaluated [67]. As research progresses, the focus shifts towards the fire and carbon cycle itself. With global climate change, carbon emissions caused by fires have received increasing attention. Therefore, since 2010, emissions have continued to receive widespread attention from researchers and have become a hot spot [17,68,69]. In recent years, with the development of remote sensing, modeling, and other technologies, the assessment of fire carbon emissions has been carried out on a larger scale [22,70]. In the future of climate change, carbon emissions from fires will continue to receive attention from researchers [10,71,72,73].

4. Conclusions and Limitations

Based on the bibliometric analysis, this study provided a comprehensive overview of published articles in the FCC research field from 1989 to 2023, based on the bibliometric analysis. Research in the FCC field has experienced significant growth; however, the annual mean number of citations followed a pattern of rapid increase, gradual rise, and then eventual decline. The top 10 institutions with the most publications were mainly in the USA and the UK. During the last three decades, Global Change Biology, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Forest Ecology and Management, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, and Environmental Research Letters were the five most productive journals. In addition, the quality of published papers might be more critical than the total number of publications. The most popular keywords in this research were “fire”, “climate change”, and “carbon”. We analyzed the thematic evolution in FCC, and proved that fire carbon emission and models are hot spots of continuous attention in the future under climate change.
However, due to the bibliometric methods used in this study, there are still some limitations to our research that need to be further investigated in future works in order to enhance our in-depth understanding of the FCC field, and to establish connections between it and practical applications, such as climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. We can continue to study in the following areas: regarding the characteristics of research on different types of fires, such as uncontrollable (wildfires) and controllable (planned burning), the patterns in geographic regions (tropical, temperate, or boreal) or ecosystems where the research is conducted, the correlation between the country where the publication is published and the geographic region it is studying, the availability of funding for the publication, etc.
Clearer information and actionable insights on the impact of global FCC research publications will enhance the understanding of key issues and guide more effective communication within the scientific community. This clarity will also support the development of targeted research strategies, particularly in relation to fire types, ecosystems, and geographical trends. Additionally, it will inform the formulation of research policies and publishing priorities, especially in the broader context of climate change.

Supplementary Materials

The following Supporting Information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/fire8010004/s1, Table S1: The weighted inclusion index of theme transformation in different periods.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, W.Z.; methodology, D.W. and W.Z.; resources, D.W.; data curation, D.W.; writing—original draft preparation, D.W. and W.Z.; writing—review and editing, D.W., W.Z., S.Y., Q.Y., Z.L., Y.P. and F.Z.; visualization, D.W. and W.Z.; supervision, S.Y. and Q.Y.; funding acquisition, W.Z., F.Z. and D.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32201348, 42301019), Research grants from National Institute of Natural Hazards, Ministry of Emergency Management of China (ZDJ2024-10) and State Grid Hunan Electric Power Co., Ltd. Disaster Prevention and Reduction Center (16D2G7-9000000-5000).

Data Availability Statement

No data are available for this work.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

  1. Bowman, D.; Balch, J.K.; Artaxo, P.; Bond, W.J.; Carlson, J.M.; Cochrane, M.A.; D’Antonio, C.M.; DeFries, R.S.; Doyle, J.C.; Harrison, S.P.; et al. Fire in the Earth System. Science 2009, 324, 481–484. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  2. Jones, M.W.; Abatzoglou, J.T.; Veraverbeke, S.; Andela, N.; Lasslop, G.; Forkel, M.; Smith, A.J.P.; Burton, C.; Betts, R.A.; van der Werf, G.R.; et al. Global and Regional Trends and Drivers of Fire Under Climate Change. Rev. Geophys. 2022, 60, e2020RG000726. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  3. Bowman, D.; Kolden, C.A.; Abatzoglou, J.T.; Johnston, F.H.; van der Werf, G.R.; Flannigan, M. Vegetation fires in the Anthropocene. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 2020, 1, 500–515. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  4. Flannigan, M.; Stocks, B.; Turetsky, M.; Wotton, M. Impacts of climate change on fire activity and fire management in the circumboreal forest. Glob. Change Biol. 2009, 15, 549–560. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  5. Yao, Q.; Jiang, D.; Zheng, B.; Wang, X.; Zhu, X.; Fang, K.; Shi, L.; Wang, Z.; Wang, Y.; Zhong, L.; et al. Anthropogenic warming is a key climate indicator of rising urban fire activity in China. Natl. Sci. Rev. 2024, 11, nwae163. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  6. Westerling, A.L.; Hidalgo, H.G.; Cayan, D.R.; Swetnam, T.W. Warming and earlier spring increase western US forest wildfire activity. Science 2006, 313, 940–943. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  7. Jolly, W.M.; Cochrane, M.A.; Freeborn, P.H.; Holden, Z.A.; Brown, T.J.; Williamson, G.J.; Bowman, D.M. Climate-induced variations in global wildfire danger from 1979 to 2013. Nat. Commun. 2015, 6, 7537. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  8. Soja, A.J.; Tchebakova, N.M.; French, N.H.F.; Flannigan, M.D.; Shugart, H.H.; Stocks, B.J.; Sukhinin, A.I.; Parfenova, E.I.; Chapin, F.S.; Stackhouse, P.W. Climate-induced boreal forest change: Predictions versus current observations. Glob. Planet. Chang. 2007, 56, 274–296. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  9. Abatzoglou, J.T.; Williams, A.P. Impact of anthropogenic climate change on wildfire across western US forests. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2016, 113, 11770–11775. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  10. Kolden, C.A.; Abatzoglou, J.T.; Jones, M.W.; Jain, P. Wildfires in 2023. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 2024, 5, 238–240. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  11. Williams, A.P.; Abatzoglou, J.T.; Gershunov, A.; Guzman-Morales, J.; Bishop, D.A.; Balch, J.K.; Lettenmaier, D.P. Observed Impacts of Anthropogenic Climate Change on Wildfire in California. Earth’s Future 2019, 7, 892–910. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  12. Andreae, M.O.; Merlet, P. Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 2001, 15, 955–966. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  13. van der Werf, G.R.; Randerson, J.T.; Giglio, L.; Collatz, G.J.; Mu, M.; Kasibhatla, P.S.; Morton, D.C.; DeFries, R.S.; Jin, Y.; van Leeuwen, T.T. Global fire emissions and the contribution of deforestation, savanna, forest, agricultural, and peat fires (1997–2009). Atmos. Chem. Phys. 2010, 10, 11707–11735. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  14. Bond, W.J.; Keeley, J.E. Fire as a global ‘herbivore’: The ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems. Trends Ecol. Evolution. 2005, 20, 387–394. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  15. Lasslop, G.; Hantson, S.; Harrison, S.P.; Bachelet, D.; Burton, C.; Forkel, M.; Forrest, M.; Li, F.; Melton, J.R.; Yue, C.; et al. Global ecosystems and fire: Multi-model assessment of fire-induced tree-cover and carbon storage reduction. Glob. Change Biol. 2020, 26, 5027–5041. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  16. Lv, A.; Tian, H.; Liu, M.; Liu, J.; Melillo, J.M. Spatial and temporal patterns of carbon emissions from forest fires in China from 1950 to 2000. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 2006, 111, D05313. [Google Scholar]
  17. Zhang, Y.; Qin, D.; Yuan, W.; Jia, B. Historical trends of forest fires and carbon emissions in China from 1988 to 2012. J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci. 2016, 121, 2506–2517. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  18. Houghton, R.A. Revised estimates of the annual net flux of carbon to the atmosphere from changes in land use and land management 1850–2000. Tellus B Chem. Phys. Meteorol. 2003, 55, 378–390. [Google Scholar]
  19. van der Werf, G.R.; Randerson, J.T.; Giglio, L.; van Leeuwen, T.T.; Chen, Y.; Rogers, B.M.; Mu, M.; van Marle, M.J.E.; Morton, D.C.; Collatz, G.J.; et al. Global fire emissions estimates during 1997–2016. Earth Syst. Sci. Data 2017, 9, 697–720. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  20. Yin, Y.; Bloom, A.A.; Worden, J.; Saatchi, S.; Yang, Y.; Williams, M.; Liu, J.; Jiang, Z.; Worden, H.; Bowman, K.; et al. Fire decline in dry tropical ecosystems enhances decadal land carbon sink. Nat. Commun. 2020, 11, 1900. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  21. Yue, C.; Ciais, P.; Zhu, D.; Wang, T.; Peng, S.S.; Piao, S.L. How have past fire disturbances contributed to the current carbon balance of boreal ecosystems? Biogeosciences 2016, 13, 675–690. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  22. Zheng, B.; Ciais, P.; Chevallier, F.; Chuvieco, E.; Yang, C.; Hui, Y. Increasing forest fire emissions despite the decline in global burned area. Sci. Adv. 2021, 7, eabh2646. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  23. McKinley, D.C.; Ryan, M.G.; Birdsey, R.A.; Giardina, C.P.; Harmon, M.E.; Heath, L.S.; Houghton, R.A.; Jackson, R.B.; Morrison, J.F.; Murray, B.C.; et al. A synthesis of current knowledge on forests and carbon storage in the United States. Ecol. Appl. 2011, 21, 1902–1924. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  24. Randerson, J.T.; Chen, Y.; van der Werf, G.R.; Rogers, B.M.; Morton, D.C. Global burned area and biomass burning emissions from small fires. J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci. 2012, 117, G04012. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  25. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Blue Book on Forest Fire Carbon Emissions (2023); Chinese Academy of Sciences: Beijing, China, 2023. [Google Scholar]
  26. Pausas, J.G.; Keeley, J.E. A Burning Story: The Role of Fire in the History of Life. BioScience 2009, 59, 593–601. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  27. Pellegrini, A.F.A.; Ahlstrom, A.; Hobbie, S.E.; Reich, P.B.; Nieradzik, L.P.; Staver, A.C.; Scharenbroch, B.C.; Jumpponen, A.; Anderegg, W.R.L.; Randerson, J.T.; et al. Fire frequency drives decadal changes in soil carbon and nitrogen and ecosystem productivity. Nature 2018, 553, 194–198. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  28. Jobbágy, E.G.; Jackson, R.B. The Vertical Distribution of Soil Organic Carbon and Its Relation to Climate and Vegetation. Ecol. Appl. 2000, 10, 423–436. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  29. Certini, G. Effects of fire on properties of forest soils: A review. Oecologia 2005, 143, 1–10. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  30. Santin, C.; Doerr, S.H.; Otero, X.L.; Chafer, C.J. Quantity, composition and water contamination potential of ash produced under different wildfire severities. Environ. Res. 2015, 142, 297–308. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  31. Weintraub, M.N.; Schimel, J.P. Interactions between Carbon and Nitrogen Mineralization and Soil Organic Matter Chemistry in Arctic Tundra Soils. Ecosystems 2003, 6, 129–143. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  32. Aria, M.; Cuccurullo, C. bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. J. Informetr. 2017, 11, 959–975. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  33. Zhang, Y.; Chen, Y. Research trends and areas of focus on the Chinese Loess Plateau: A bibliometric analysis during 1991–2018. Catena 2020, 194, 104798. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  34. Liu, Z.; Chen, Z.; Yu, G.; Zhang, T.; Yang, M. A bibliometric analysis of carbon exchange in global drylands. J. Arid Land 2021, 13, 1089–1102. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  35. Liu, Z.; Zhao, M.; Lu, Z.; Zhang, H. Seed Traits Research Is on the Rise: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1991–2020. Plants 2022, 11, 2006. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  36. Zheng, C.; Bochmann, H.; Liu, Z.; Kant, J.; Schrey, S.D.; Wojciechowski, T.; Postma, J.A. Plant root plasticity during drought and recovery: What do we know and where to go? Front. Plant Sci. 2023, 14, 1084355. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  37. Zuo, F.; Yao, Q.; Shi, L.; Wang, Z.; Bai, M.; Fang, K.; Guo, F.; Yuan, L.; Zhang, W. Research on Wildfire and Soil Water: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1990 to 2023. Fire 2024, 7, 434. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  38. Lasslop, G.; Coppola, A.I.; Voulgarakis, A.; Yue, C.; Veraverbeke, S. Influence of Fire on the Carbon Cycle and Climate. Curr. Clim. Chang. Rep. 2019, 5, 112–123. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  39. Wu, C.; Sitch, S.; Huntingford, C.; Mercado, L.M.; Venevsky, S.; Lasslop, G.; Archibald, S.; Staver, A.C. Reduced global fire activity due to human demography slows global warming by enhanced land carbon uptake. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2022, 119, e2101186119. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  40. Landry, J.S.; Partanen, A.I.; Matthews, H.D. Carbon cycle and climate effects of forcing from fire-emitted aerosols. Environ. Res. Lett. 2017, 12, 11. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  41. Byrne, B.; Liu, J.; Lee, M.; Yin, Y.; Bowman, K.W.; Miyazaki, K.; Norton, A.J.; Joiner, J.; Pollard, D.F.; Griffith, D.W.T.; et al. The Carbon Cycle of Southeast Australia During 2019–2020: Drought, Fires, and Subsequent Recovery. AGU Adv. 2021, 2, e2021AV000469. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  42. Murphy, B.P.; Prior, L.D.; Cochrane, M.A.; Williamson, G.J.; Bowman, D. Biomass consumption by surface fires across Earth’s most fire prone continent. Glob. Change Biol. 2019, 25, 254–268. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  43. Wei, X.; Hayes, D.J.; Fernandez, I. Fire reduces riverine DOC concentration draining a watershed and alters post-fire DOC recovery patterns. Environ. Res. Lett. 2021, 16, 024022. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  44. Fellows, A.W.; Flerchinger, G.N.; Lohse, K.A.; Seyfried, M.S. Rapid Recovery of Gross Production and Respiration in a Mesic Mountain Big Sagebrush Ecosystem Following Prescribed Fire. Ecosystems 2018, 21, 1283–1294. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  45. Feng, L.; Zhou, W. The Forest Fire Dynamic Change Influencing Factors and the Impacts on Gross Primary Productivity in China. Remote Sens. 2023, 15, 1364. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  46. Worrall, F.; Clay, G.D.; May, R. Controls upon biomass losses and char production from prescribed burning on UK moorland. J. Environ. Manag. 2013, 120, 27–36. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  47. Gorham, E. Northern Peatlands—Role in the Carbon-cycle and Probable Responses to Climatic Warming. Ecol. Appl. 1991, 1, 182–195. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  48. Sitch, S.; Smith, B.; Prentice, I.C.; Arneth, A.; Bondeau, A.; Cramer, W.; Kaplan, J.O.; Levis, S.; Lucht, W.; Sykes, M.T.; et al. Evaluation of ecosystem dynamics, plant geography and terrestrial carbon cycling in the LPJ dynamic global vegetation model. Glob. Change Biol. 2003, 9, 161–185. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  49. Krinner, G.; Viovy, N.; de Noblet-Ducoudré, N.; Ogée, J.; Polcher, J.; Friedlingstein, P.; Ciais, P.; Sitch, S.; Prentice, I.C. A dynamic global vegetation model for studies of the coupled atmosphere-biosphere system. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 2005, 19, 44. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  50. Lewis, S.; Maslin, M. Defining the Anthropocene. Nature 2015, 519, 171–180. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  51. Vitousek, P.M.; Howarth, R.W. Nitrogen limitation on land and the sea- how can it occur. Biogeochemistry 1991, 13, 87–115. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  52. Zhao, J.; Yue, C.; Wang, J.; Hantson, S.; Wang, X.; He, B.; Li, G.; Wang, L.; Zhao, H.; Luyssaert, S. Forest fire size amplifies postfire land surface warming. Nature 2024, 633, 828–834. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  53. Jain, P.; Castellanos-Acuna, D.; Coogan, S.C.P.; Abatzoglou, J.T.; Flannigan, M.D. Observed increases in extreme fire weather driven by atmospheric humidity and temperature. Nat. Clim. Chang. 2021, 12, 63–70. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  54. Huesca, M.; Litago, J.; Palacios-Orueta, A.; Montes, F.; Sebastián-López, A.; Escribano, P. Assessment of forest fire seasonality using MODIS fire potential: A time series approach. Agric. For. Meteorol. 2009, 149, 1946–1955. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  55. Wang, W.; Zhao, F.; Wang, Y.; Huang, X.; Ye, J. Seasonal differences in the spatial patterns of wildfire drivers and susceptibility in the southwest mountains of China. Sci. Total Environ. 2023, 869, 161782. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  56. Zhang, G.; Wang, M.; Liu, K. Dynamic prediction of global monthly burned area with hybrid deep neural networks. Ecol. Appl. 2022, 32, e2610. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  57. Landry, J.-S.; Matthews, H.D.; Ramankutty, N. A global assessment of the carbon cycle and temperature responses to major changes in future fire regime. Clim. Chang. 2015, 133, 179–192. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  58. Poulter, B.; AragÃO, L.; Heyder, U.; Gumpenberger, M.; Heinke, J.; Langerwisch, F.; Rammig, A.; Thonicke, K.; Cramer, W. Net biome production of the Amazon Basin in the 21st century. Glob. Change Biol. 2010, 16, 2062–2075. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  59. Harrison, S.P.; Bartlein, P.J.; Brovkin, V.; Houweling, S.; Kloster, S.; Prentice, I.C. The biomass burning contribution to climate–carbon-cycle feedback. Earth Syst. Dyn. 2018, 9, 663–677. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  60. Andela, N.; Morton, D.C.; Giglio, L.; Chen, Y.; van der Werf, G.R.; Kasibhatla, P.S.; DeFries, R.S.; Collatz, G.J.; Hantson, S.; Kloster, S.; et al. A human-driven decline in global burned area. Science 2017, 356, 1356–1361. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  61. Jones, M.W.; Kelley, D.I.; Burton, C.A.; Di Giuseppe, F.; Barbosa, M.L.F.; Brambleby, E.; Hartley, A.J.; Lombardi, A.; Mataveli, G.; McNorton, J.R.; et al. State of Wildfires 2023–2024. Earth Syst. Sci. Data 2024, 16, 3601–3685. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  62. Abatzoglou, J.T.; Williams, A.P.; Barbero, R. Global Emergence of Anthropogenic Climate Change in Fire Weather Indices. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2019, 46, 326–336. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  63. Cunningham, C.X.; Williamson, G.J.; Bowman, D. Increasing frequency and intensity of the most extreme wildfires on Earth. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2024, 8, 1420–1425. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  64. Cahoon, D.R., Jr.; Stocks, B.J.; Levine, J.S.; Cofer, W.R., III; Pierson, J.M. Satellite analysis of the severe 1987 forest fires in northern China and southeastern Siberia. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 1994, 99, 18627–18638. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  65. Kurz, W.A.; Apps, M.J. A 70-Year Retrospective Analysis of Carbon Fluxes in the Canadian Forest Sector. Ecol. Appl. 1999, 9, 526–547. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  66. Kurz, W.A.; Apps, M.J. An Analysis of Future Carbon Budgets of Canadian Boreal Forests. Water Air Soil Pollut. 1995, 82, 321–331. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  67. Seiler, W.; Crutzen, P.J. Estimates of Gross and Net Fluxes of Carbon Between the Biosphere and the Atmosphere from Biomass Burning. Clim. Chang. 1980, 2, 207–247. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  68. Mack, M.C.; Bret-Harte, M.S.; Hollingsworth, T.N.; Jandt, R.R.; Schuur, E.A.; Shaver, G.R.; Verbyla, D.L. Carbon loss from an unprecedented Arctic tundra wildfire. Nature 2011, 475, 489–492. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  69. Yin, L.; Du, P.; Zhang, M.; Liu, M.; Xu, T.; Song, Y. Estimation of emissions from biomass burning in China (2003–2017) based on MODIS fire radiative energy data. Biogeosciences 2019, 16, 1629–1640. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  70. Zheng, B.; Ciais, P.; Chevallier, F.; Yang, H.; Canadell, J.G.; Chen, Y.; Velde, I.R.v.d.; Aben, I.; Chuvieco, E.; Davis, S.J.; et al. Record-high CO2 emissions from boreal fires in 2021. Science 2023, 379, 912–917. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  71. Byrne, B.; Liu, J.; Bowman, K.W.; Pascolini-Campbell, M.; Chatterjee, A.; Pandey, S.; Miyazaki, K.; van der Werf, G.R.; Wunch, D.; Wennberg, P.O.; et al. Carbon emissions from the 2023 Canadian wildfires. Nature 2024, 633, 835–839. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  72. Jones, M.W.; Veraverbeke, S.; Andela, N.; Doerr, S.H.; Kolden, C.; Mataveli, G.; Pettinari, M.L.; Le Quere, C.; Rosan, T.M.; van der Werf, G.R.; et al. Global rise in forest fire emissions linked to climate change in the extratropics. Science 2024, 386, eadl5889. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  73. Yue, C.; Xu, M.; Ciais, P.; Tao, S.; Shen, H.; Chang, J.; Li, W.; Deng, L.; He, J.; Leng, Y.; et al. Contributions of ecological restoration policies to China’s land carbon balance. Nat. Commun. 2024, 15, 9708. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Figure 1. The trends in publications and citations.
Figure 1. The trends in publications and citations.
Fire 08 00004 g001
Figure 2. Each country’s production (a), and top 10 published (b) and cited (c) countries related to FCC research.
Figure 2. Each country’s production (a), and top 10 published (b) and cited (c) countries related to FCC research.
Fire 08 00004 g002
Figure 3. The relationship between GDP and publications and citations of countries, where the small chart in the upper right showed the correlation after removing the US and China (the top two countries in terms of GDP). GDP: gross domestic product. (a) the relationship between GDP and publications; (b) the relationship between GDP and citations.
Figure 3. The relationship between GDP and publications and citations of countries, where the small chart in the upper right showed the correlation after removing the US and China (the top two countries in terms of GDP). GDP: gross domestic product. (a) the relationship between GDP and publications; (b) the relationship between GDP and citations.
Fire 08 00004 g003
Figure 4. The country collaboration network.
Figure 4. The country collaboration network.
Fire 08 00004 g004
Figure 5. The variation in mean IF with the variation in citation. IF, impact factor.
Figure 5. The variation in mean IF with the variation in citation. IF, impact factor.
Fire 08 00004 g005
Figure 6. The word cloud of popular keywords. The size of each label represents the frequency of each word.
Figure 6. The word cloud of popular keywords. The size of each label represents the frequency of each word.
Fire 08 00004 g006
Figure 7. Thematic Map of FCC.
Figure 7. Thematic Map of FCC.
Fire 08 00004 g007
Figure 8. Thematic evolution in FCC studies. Thematic evolution is illustrated on a timeline, with the horizontal axis representing different periods. The colored box corresponds to a distinct theme, and its size reflects the frequency of the theme in that period. The lines connecting the boxes depict the temporal evolution, transition, and continuity of these themes.
Figure 8. Thematic evolution in FCC studies. Thematic evolution is illustrated on a timeline, with the horizontal axis representing different periods. The colored box corresponds to a distinct theme, and its size reflects the frequency of the theme in that period. The lines connecting the boxes depict the temporal evolution, transition, and continuity of these themes.
Fire 08 00004 g008
Table 1. Information regarding the data used in this study.
Table 1. Information regarding the data used in this study.
DescriptionResult
Timespan1989:2023
Sources (Journals, etc.)477
Documents2408
Annual Growth Rate %16.29
Document Average Age9.89
Average citations per doc69.81
Keywords Plus (ID)5491
Authors11,088
Authors of single-authored docs62
Co-authors per Doc7.56
International co-authorships %46.43
Table 2. The top 10 most published journals of FCC during the period of 1989–2023.
Table 2. The top 10 most published journals of FCC during the period of 1989–2023.
JournalPublications
Global Change Biology127
Global Biogeochemical Cycles105
Forest Ecologyand Management79
Atmospheric Chemistryand Physics76
Environmental Research Letters67
Journalof Geophysical Research-Atmospheres67
Scienceofthe Total Environment67
Biogeosciences66
Journalof Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences58
Remote Sensingof Environment46
Table 3. Top ten most marked institutions.
Table 3. Top ten most marked institutions.
CountryInstitutionPublications
USAUniversity of Maryland161
USAColorado State University151
USAUniversity of Colorado142
UKUniversity of Exeter140
USAUS Forest Service132
USANorthern Arizona University124
USAOregon State University118
USAUniversity of California, Irvine116
USAGoddard Space Flight Center111
USAUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks110
Table 4. Top ten most cited publications.
Table 4. Top ten most cited publications.
TitleYear JournalCitations
Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning2001Global Biogeochemical Cycles2786
Northern peatlands—role in the carbon-cycle and probable responses to climatic warming1991Ecological Applications2785
Nitrogen limitation on land and in the sea—how can it occur1991Biogeochemistry2674
Evaluation of ecosystem dynamics, plant geography and terrestrial carbon cycling in the LPJ dynamic global vegetation model2003Global Change Biology2334
Fire in the earth system2009Science2190
Defining the Anthropocene2015Nature1819
A dynamic global vegetation model for studies of the coupled atmosphere-biosphere system2005Global Biogeochemical Cycles1553
Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide2009Nature Geoscience1399
Climate extremes and the carbon cycle2013Nature1355
Contribution of semi-arid ecosystems to interannual variability of the global carbon cycle2014Nature1042
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Wang, D.; Yang, S.; Yao, Q.; Zhang, W.; Liu, Z.; Pei, Y.; Zuo, F. Fire Carbon Cycle Research Is on the Rise: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1989–2023. Fire 2025, 8, 4. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8010004

AMA Style

Wang D, Yang S, Yao Q, Zhang W, Liu Z, Pei Y, Zuo F. Fire Carbon Cycle Research Is on the Rise: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1989–2023. Fire. 2025; 8(1):4. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8010004

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wang, Di, Siquan Yang, Qichao Yao, Weikang Zhang, Zhaogang Liu, Yanyan Pei, and Fenglin Zuo. 2025. "Fire Carbon Cycle Research Is on the Rise: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1989–2023" Fire 8, no. 1: 4. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8010004

APA Style

Wang, D., Yang, S., Yao, Q., Zhang, W., Liu, Z., Pei, Y., & Zuo, F. (2025). Fire Carbon Cycle Research Is on the Rise: A Bibliometric Analysis from 1989–2023. Fire, 8(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8010004

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop