# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/ecology-and-vegetation-dynamics-studies/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies research in the Class of 2026?

Ecology and vegetation dynamics literature shifts toward predictive trait-based spatial modeling and scenario-driven conservation. Species distribution modeling, grassland resilience, and land use change dominate high-impact research. Projections incorporating Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, functional traits, and dryland biodiversity surge dramatically, while traditional carbon sequestration metrics decline.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 8,523 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Species distribution modeling, Grasslands, Land use change, Biodiversity hotspots, Functional traits |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 48–257 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Critical transitions in the Amazon forest system | Bernardo M Flores, Encarni Montoya, Boris Sakschewski, Nathália Nascimento, Arie Staal, Richard A Betts, Carolina Levis, David M Lapola, Adriane Esquível-Muelbert, Catarina Jakovac, Carlos A Nobre, Rafael S Oliveira, Laura S Borma, Da Nian, Niklas Boers, Susanna B Hecht, Hans Ter Steege, Julia Arieira, Isabella L Lucas, Erika Berenguer, José A Marengo, Luciana V Gatti, Caio R C Mattos, Marina Hirota | Bernardo M. Flores, Marina Hirota | Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil | Nature | 257 | 10.1038/s41586-023-06970-0 |
| 2 | Mechanisms, detection and impacts of species redistributions under climate change | Jake Lawlor, Lise Comte, Gaël Grenouillet, Jonathan Lenoir, J. Alex Baecher, Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Wajra Jeewantha Bandara, Romain Bertrand, I‐Ching Chen, Sarah E. Diamond, Lesley T. Lancaster, Nikki A. Moore, Jérôme Murienne, Brunno F. Oliveira, GT Pecl, Malin L. Pinsky, Jonathan Rolland, Madeleine A. Rubenstein, Brett R. Scheffers, Laura M. Thompson, Brit van Amerom, Fabricio Villalobos, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Jennifer M. Sunday | Jake Lawlor | McGill University, Canada | Nature Reviews Earth & Environment | 109 | 10.1038/s43017-024-00527-z |
| 3 | The Atlantic Forest of South America: Spatiotemporal dynamics of the vegetation and implications for conservation | Maurício Humberto Vancine, Renata L. Muylaert, Bernardo Brandão Niebuhr, Júlia Emi de Faria Oshima, Vinicius Rodrigues Tonetti, Rodrigo Bernardo, Carlos De Angelo, Marcos Reis Rosa, Carlos Henrique Grohmann, Milton Cézar Ribeiro | Maurício Humberto Vancine, Milton Cézar Ribeiro | Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Brazil | Biological Conservation | 86 | 10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110499 |
| 4 | A global meta-analysis on the effects of organic and inorganic fertilization on grasslands and croplands | Ting-Shuai Shi, Scott L Collins, Kailiang Yu, Josep Peñuelas, Jordi Sardans, Hailing Li, Jian-Sheng Ye | Jian‐Sheng Ye | Lanzhou University, China | Nature Communications | 84 | 10.1038/s41467-024-47829-w |
| 5 | Shifts in native tree species distributions in Europe under climate change | Marcin K Dyderski, Sonia Paź-Dyderska, Andrzej M Jagodziński, Radosław Puchałka | Marcin K. Dyderski | Institute of Dendrology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland | Journal of Environmental Management | 75 | 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123504 |
| 6 | Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally | Melinda D Smith, Kate D Wilkins, Martin C Holdrege, Peter Wilfahrt, Scott L Collins, Alan K Knapp, Osvaldo E Sala, Jeffrey S Dukes, Richard P Phillips, Laura Yahdjian, Laureano A Gherardi, Timothy Ohlert, Claus Beier, Lauchlan H Fraser, Anke Jentsch, Michael E Loik, Fernando T Maestre, Sally A Power, Qiang Yu, Andrew J Felton, Seth M Munson, Yiqi Luo, Hamed Abdoli, Mehdi Abedi, Concepción L Alados, Juan Alberti, Moshe Alon, Hui An, Brian Anacker, Maggie Anderson, Harald Auge, Seton Bachle, Khadijeh Bahalkeh, Michael Bahn, Amgaa Batbaatar, Taryn Bauerle, Karen H Beard, Kai Behn, Ilka Beil, Lucio Biancari, Irmgard Blindow, Viviana Florencia Bondaruk, Elizabeth T Borer, Edward W Bork, Carlos Martin Bruschetti, Kerry M Byrne, James F Cahill, Dianela A Calvo, Michele Carbognani, Augusto Cardoni, Cameron N Carlyle, Miguel Castillo-Garcia, Scott X Chang, Jeff Chieppa, Marcus V Cianciaruso, Ofer Cohen, Amanda L Cordeiro, Daniela F Cusack, Sven Dahlke, Pedro Daleo, Carla M D'Antonio, Lee H Dietterich, Tim S Doherty, Maren Dubbert, Anne Ebeling, Nico Eisenhauer, Felícia M Fischer, T'ai G W Forte, Tobias Gebauer, Beatriz Gozalo, Aaron C Greenville, Karlo G Guidoni-Martins, Heather J Hannusch, Siri Vatsø Haugum, Yann Hautier, Mariet Hefting, Hugh A L Henry, Daniela Hoss, Johannes Ingrisch, Oscar Iribarne, Forest Isbell, Yari Johnson, Samuel Jordan, Eugene F Kelly, Kaitlin Kimmel, Juergen Kreyling, György Kröel-Dulay, Alicia Kröpfl, Angelika Kübert, Andrew Kulmatiski, Eric G Lamb, Klaus Steenberg Larsen, Julie Larson, Jason Lawson, Cintia V Leder, Anja Linstädter, Jielin Liu, Shirong Liu, Alexandra G Lodge, Grisel Longo, Alejandro Loydi, Junwei Luan, Frederick Curtis Lubbe, Craig Macfarlane, Kathleen Mackie-Haas, Andrey V Malyshev, Adrián Maturano-Ruiz, Thomas Merchant, Daniel B Metcalfe, Akira S Mori, Edwin Mudongo, Gregory S Newman, Uffe N Nielsen, Dale Nimmo, Yujie Niu, Paola Nobre, Rory C O'Connor, Romà Ogaya, Gastón R Oñatibia, Ildikó Orbán, Brooke Osborne, Rafael Otfinowski, Meelis Pärtel, Josep Penuelas, Pablo L Peri, Guadalupe Peter, Alessandro Petraglia, Catherine Picon-Cochard, Valério D Pillar, Juan Manuel Piñeiro-Guerra, Laura W Ploughe, Robert M Plowes, Cristy Portales-Reyes, Suzanne M Prober, Yolanda Pueyo, Sasha C Reed, Euan G Ritchie, Dana Aylén Rodríguez, William E Rogers, Christiane Roscher, Ana M Sánchez, Bráulio A Santos, María Cecilia Scarfó, Eric W Seabloom, Baoku Shi, Lara Souza, Andreas Stampfli, Rachel J Standish, Marcelo Sternberg, Wei Sun, Marie Sünnemann, Michelle Tedder, Pål Thorvaldsen, Dashuan Tian, Katja Tielbörger, Alejandro Valdecantos, Liesbeth van den Brink, Vigdis Vandvik, Mathew R Vankoughnett, Liv Guri Velle, Changhui Wang, Yi Wang, Glenda M Wardle, Christiane Werner, Cunzheng Wei, Georg Wiehl, Jennifer L Williams, Amelia A Wolf, Michaela Zeiter, Fawei Zhang, Juntao Zhu, Ning Zong, Xiaoan Zuo | Melinda D. Smith, Kate Wilkins | Colorado State University, United States | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 72 | 10.1073/pnas.2309881120 |
| 7 | Plant diversity darkspots for global collection priorities | Ian Ondo, Kiran L Dhanjal-Adams, Samuel Pironon, Daniele Silvestro, Matheus Colli-Silva, Victor Deklerck, Olwen M Grace, Alexandre K Monro, Nicky Nicolson, Barnaby Walker, Alexandre Antonelli | Samuel Pironon, Alexandre Antonelli | Royal Botanic Gardens, United Kingdom | New Phytologist | 71 | 10.1111/nph.20024 |
| 8 | Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world | Nicolas Gross, Fernando T Maestre, Pierre Liancourt, Miguel Berdugo, Raphaël Martin, Beatriz Gozalo, Victoria Ochoa, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Vincent Maire, Hugo Saiz, Santiago Soliveres, Enrique Valencia, David J Eldridge, Emilio Guirado, Franck Jabot, Sergio Asensio, Juan J Gaitán, Miguel García-Gómez, Paloma Martínez, Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, Betty J Mendoza, Eduardo Moreno-Jiménez, David S Pescador, César Plaza, Ivan Santaolaria Pijuan, Mehdi Abedi, Rodrigo J Ahumada, Fateh Amghar, Antonio I Arroyo, Khadijeh Bahalkeh, Lydia Bailey, Farah Ben Salem, Niels Blaum, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A Bowker, Cristina Branquinho, Liesbeth van den Brink, Chongfeng Bu, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea Del P Castillo-Monroy, Helena Castro, Patricio Castro, Roukaya Chibani, Abel Augusto Conceição, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, Yvonne C Davila, Balázs Deák, David A Donoso, Jorge Durán, Carlos Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Daniela Ferrante, Jorgelina Franzese, Lauchlan Fraser, Sofía Gonzalez, Elizabeth Gusman-Montalvan, Rosa Mary Hernández-Hernández, Norbert Hölzel, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Oswaldo Jadan, Florian Jeltsch, Anke Jentsch, Mengchen Ju, Kudzai F Kaseke, Liana Kindermann, Peter le Roux, Anja Linstädter, Michelle A Louw, Mancha Mabaso, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Thulani P Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Antonio J Manzaneda, Eugene Marais, Pierre Margerie, Frederic Mendes Hughes, João Vitor S Messeder, Juan P Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M Munson, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Gaston R Oñatibia, Guadalupe Peter, Yolanda Pueyo, R Emiliano Quiroga, Elizabeth Ramírez-Iglesias, Sasha C Reed, Pedro J Rey, Víctor M Reyes Gómez, Alexandra Rodríguez, Victor Rolo, Juan G Rubalcaba, Jan C Ruppert, Osvaldo Sala, Ayman Salah, Phokgedi Julius Sebei, Ilan Stavi, Colton Stephens, Alberto L Teixido, Andrew D Thomas, Heather L Throop, Katja Tielbörger, Samantha Travers, Sainbileg Undrakhbold, James Val, Orsolya Valkó, Frederike Velbert, Wanyoike Wamiti, Lixin Wang, Deli Wang, Glenda M Wardle, Peter Wolff, Laura Yahdjian, Reza Yari, Eli Zaady, Juan Manuel Zeberio, Yuanling Zhang, Xiaobing Zhou, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet | Nicolas Gross, Fernando T. Maestre | Université Clermont Auvergne, France | Nature | 65 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07731-3 |
| 9 | Plant diversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via multitrophic diversity | Yi Li, Andreas Schuldt, Anne Ebeling, Nico Eisenhauer, Yuanyuan Huang, Georg Albert, Cynthia Albracht, Angelos Amyntas, Michael Bonkowski, Helge Bruelheide, Maximilian Bröcher, Douglas Chesters, Jun Chen, Yannan Chen, Jing-Ting Chen, Marcel Ciobanu, Xianglu Deng, Felix Fornoff, Gerd Gleixner, Liangdong Guo, Peng-Fei Guo, Anna Heintz-Buschart, Alexandra-Maria Klein, Markus Lange, Shan Li, Qi Li, Yingbin Li, Arong Luo, Sebastian T Meyer, Goddert von Oheimb, Gemma Rutten, Thomas Scholten, Marcel D Solbach, Michael Staab, Ming-Qiang Wang, Naili Zhang, Chao-Dong Zhu, Bernhard Schmid, Keping Ma, Xiaojuan Liu | Xiaojuan Liu | Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 60 | 10.1038/s41559-024-02517-2 |
| 10 | Functional traits—not nativeness—shape the effects of large mammalian herbivores on plant communities | Erick J Lundgren, Juraj Bergman, Jonas Trepel, Elizabeth le Roux, Sophie Monsarrat, Jeppe Aagaard Kristensen, Rasmus Østergaard Pedersen, Patricio Pereyra, Melanie Tietje, Jens-Christian Svenning | Erick Lundgren | Aarhus University, Denmark | Science | 59 | 10.1126/science.adh2616 |
| 11 | Rural depopulation has reshaped the plant diversity distribution pattern in China | Qing Luo, Cuiwei Zhao, Guangjie Luo, Chaojun Li, Ran Chen, Sirui Zhang, Lian Xiong, Jingjing Liao, Chaochao Du, Zilin Li, Yingying Xue, Mingkang Long, Minghui Li, Xiaoqian Shen, Xiaoyun Zhang, Shu Yang, Xiaoyong Bai | Xiaoyong Bai | Guizhou Education University, China | Resources Conservation and Recycling | 59 | 10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.108054 |
| 12 | Amazon forest biogeography predicts resilience and vulnerability to drought | Shuli Chen, Scott C Stark, Antonio Donato Nobre, Luz Adriana Cuartas, Diogo de Jesus Amore, Natalia Restrepo-Coupe, Marielle N Smith, Rutuja Chitra-Tarak, Hongseok Ko, Bruce W Nelson, Scott R Saleska | Shuli Chen, S. R. Saleska | University of Arizona, United States | Nature | 55 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07568-w |
| 13 | Revealing uncertainty in the status of biodiversity change | T F Johnson, A P Beckerman, D Z Childs, T J Webb, K L Evans, C A Griffiths, P Capdevila, C F Clements, M Besson, R D Gregory, G H Thomas, E Delmas, R P Freckleton | Thomas F. Johnson | University of Sheffield, United Kingdom | Nature | 53 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07236-z |
| 14 | Global evaluation of current and future threats to drylands and their vertebrate biodiversity | Amir Lewin, Gopal Murali, Shimon Rachmilevitch, Uri Roll | Amir Lewin | Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 53 | 10.1038/s41559-024-02450-4 |
| 15 | Enhancing ecosystem productivity and stability with increasing canopy structural complexity in global forests | Xiaoqiang Liu, Yuhao Feng, Tianyu Hu, Yue Luo, Xiaoxia Zhao, Jin Wu, Eduardo E Maeda, Weiming Ju, Lingli Liu, Qinghua Guo, Yanjun Su | Yanjun Su | Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Science Advances | 52 | 10.1126/sciadv.adl1947 |
| 16 | Managing climate-change refugia to prevent extinctions | Gunnar Keppel, Diana Stralberg, Toni Lyn Morelli, Zoltán Bátori | Gunnar Keppel | University of South Australia, Australia | Trends in Ecology & Evolution | 50 | 10.1016/j.tree.2024.05.002 |
| 17 | Accelerated succession in Himalayan alpine treelines under climatic warming | Shalik Ram Sigdel, Xiangyu Zheng, Flurin Babst, J Julio Camarero, Shan Gao, Xiaoxia Li, Xiaoming Lu, Jayram Pandey, Binod Dawadi, Jian Sun, Haifeng Zhu, Tao Wang, Eryuan Liang, Josep Peñuelas | Eryuan Liang | Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Nature Plants | 50 | 10.1038/s41477-024-01855-0 |
| 18 | Rapid shifts in grassland communities driven by climate change | Kai Zhu, Yiluan Song, Josephine C Lesage, Justin C Luong, James W Bartolome, Nona R Chiariello, Joan Dudney, Christopher B Field, Lauren M Hallett, Michele Hammond, Susan P Harrison, Grey F Hayes, Richard J Hobbs, Karen D Holl, Peter Hopkinson, Loralee Larios, Michael E Loik, Laura R Prugh | Kai Zhu | University of Michigan, United States | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 49 | 10.1038/s41559-024-02552-z |
| 19 | Climate velocities and species tracking in global mountain regions | Wei-Ping Chan, Jonathan Lenoir, Guan-Shuo Mai, Hung-Chi Kuo, I-Ching Chen, Sheng-Feng Shen | I‐Ching Chen, Sheng‐Feng Shen | Biodiversity Research Center, United States | Nature | 48 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07264-9 |
| 20 | Predicting the potential habitat suitability of Saussurea species in China under future climate scenarios using the optimized Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model | Rongfang Zhao, Shijin Wang, Shengyun Chen | Shijin Wang | University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Journal of Cleaner Production | 48 | 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143552 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

Research across the Class of 2026 in Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies emphasizes predictive modeling, habitat disturbance, and functional biodiversity across vulnerable biomes. Species distribution modeling leads topic occurrences (12% of ranked literature), reflecting widespread reliance on high-resolution spatial algorithms to forecast plant range realignments under changing environmental pressures. Land use change (10%) and grassland dynamics (10%) represent central empirical pillars, driven by accelerating agricultural expansion, habitat fragmentation, and rangeland degradation. Studies targeting dryland ecosystems (8%) and biodiversity hotspots (8%) highlight growing analytical focus on sensitive ecosystems experiencing acute hydroclimatic stress. Furthermore, functional traits (8%) and functional diversity (8%) demonstrate a methodological pivot toward trait-based ecological frameworks, replacing traditional taxonomic counts with mechanistic assessments of ecosystem resilience. Range shifts (8%) and endemic species vulnerability (8%) further structure the literature as researchers track species displacement patterns along latitudinal and elevation gradients. Integrated climate-socioeconomic modeling, specifically Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (8%), underscores the field's shift toward coupling climate projections with anthropogenic policy scenarios. Together, these topics define a modern ecological landscape centered on predictive spatial dynamics, trait-driven ecosystem assessments, and climate change adaptation strategies.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparing the Class of 2025 (2023 publications) to the Class of 2026 (2024 publications) reveals a pronounced transition from descriptive carbon accounting toward scenario-driven climate forecasting and functional conservation. The most notable emerging topics include Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, biodiversity hotspots, endemic species, functional traits, and conservation prioritization, all showing dramatic increases from near-zero baseline occurrences in the previous cohort to significant prevalence in 2024 literature. Dryland ecosystems and functional diversity also registered substantial multi-fold growth, reflecting expanded ecological field investigations across moisture-limited regions. Conversely, traditional ecosystem metrics experienced relative declines: carbon sequestration topics dropped from 12% in 2023 to 4% in 2024, and compositional turnover shifted downward from 6% to 4%. Meanwhile, baseline methodologies such as species distribution modeling (12%) and land use change assessments (10%) maintained steady core representation across both cohorts. These shifts illustrate a field-wide realignment from static habitat inventories and broad carbon dynamics toward predictive trait-based modeling, fine-scale climate scenario projections, and targeted conservation strategies.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/ecology-and-vegetation-dynamics-studies/2026. Accessed 2026-07-21.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
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