# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/wildlife-ecology-and-conservation/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Wildlife Ecology and Conservation research in the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 for Wildlife Ecology and Conservation research reveals a significant shift toward proactive landscape management. Studies increasingly focus on spatial connectivity, ecological corridors, and security patterns, moving away from merely documenting threats like habitat loss and extinction risk to designing large-scale structural conservation solutions.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Wildlife Ecology and Conservation |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 8,640 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Ecological corridors, Ecological security pattern, Ecological source areas |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 38–109 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | 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 |
| 2 | The economic impacts of ecosystem disruptions: Costs from substituting biological pest control | Eyal G Frank | Eyal Frank | University of Chicago, United States | Science | 102 | 10.1126/science.adg0344 |
| 3 | Biodiversity impacts of the 2019–2020 Australian megafires | Don A Driscoll, Kristina J Macdonald, Rebecca K Gibson, Tim S Doherty, Dale G Nimmo, Rachael H Nolan, Euan G Ritchie, Grant J Williamson, Geoffrey W Heard, Elizabeth M Tasker, Rohan Bilney, Nick Porch, Rachael A Collett, Ross A Crates, Alison C Hewitt, Elise Pendall, Matthias M Boer, Jody Gates, Rebecca L Boulton, Christopher M Mclean, Heidi Groffen, Alex C Maisey, Chad T Beranek, Shelby A Ryan, Alex Callen, Andrew J Hamer, Andrew Stauber, Garry J Daly, John Gould, Kaya L Klop-Toker, Michael J Mahony, Oliver W Kelly, Samantha L Wallace, Sarah E Stock, Christopher J Weston, Liubov Volkova, Dennis Black, Heloise Gibb, Joshua J Grubb, Melodie A McGeoch, Nick P Murphy, Joshua S Lee, Chris R Dickman, Victor J Neldner, Michael R Ngugi, Vivianna Miritis, Frank Köhler, Marc Perri, Andrew J Denham, Berin D E Mackenzie, Chris A M Reid, Julia T Rayment, Alfonsina Arriaga-Jiménez, Michael W Hewins, Andrew Hicks, Brett A Melbourne, Kendi F Davies, Matthew E Bitters, Grant D Linley, Aaron C Greenville, Jonathan K Webb, Bridget Roberts, Mike Letnic, Owen F Price, Zac C Walker, Brad R Murray, Elise M Verhoeven, Alexandria M Thomsen, David Keith, Jedda S Lemmon, Mark K J Ooi, Vanessa L Allen, Orsi T Decker, Peter T Green, Adnan Moussalli, Junn K Foon, David B Bryant, Ken L Walker, Matthew J Bruce, George Madani, Jeremy L Tscharke, Benjamin Wagner, Craig R Nitschke, Carl R Gosper, Colin J Yates, Rebecca Dillon, Sarah Barrett, Emma E Spencer, Glenda M Wardle, Thomas M Newsome, Stephanie A Pulsford, Anu Singh, Adam Roff, Karen J Marsh, Kye Mcdonald, Lachlan G Howell, Murraya R Lane, Romane H Cristescu, Ryan R Witt, Emma J Cook, Felicity Grant, Bradley S Law, Julian Seddon, Karleah K Berris, Ryan M Shofner, Mike Barth, Torran Welz, Alison Foster, David Hancock, Matthew Beitzel, Laura X L Tan, Nathan A Waddell, Pamela M Fallow, Laura Schweickle, Tom D Le Breton, Craig Dunne, Mikayla Green, Amy-Marie Gilpin, James M Cook, Sally A Power, Katja Hogendoorn, Renee Brawata, Chris J Jolly, Mark Tozer, Noushka Reiter, Ryan D Phillips | Don A. Driscoll | Deakin University, Australia | Nature | 90 | 10.1038/s41586-024-08174-6 |
| 4 | The Social Costs of Keystone Species Collapse: Evidence from the Decline of Vultures in India | Eyal Frank, Anant Sudarshan | Eyal Frank | University of Chicago, United States | American Economic Review | 60 | 10.1257/aer.20230016 |
| 5 | 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 |
| 6 | Guidelines for appropriate use of BirdNET scores and other detector outputs | Connor M. Wood, Stefan Kahl | Connor M. Wood | Cornell University, United States | Journal für Ornithologie | 53 | 10.1007/s10336-024-02144-5 |
| 7 | 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 |
| 8 | 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 |
| 9 | Global expansion of human-wildlife overlap in the 21st century | Deqiang Ma, Briana Abrahms, Jacob Allgeier, Tim Newbold, Brian C Weeks, Neil H Carter | Deqiang Ma, Briana Abrahms, Jacob E. Allgeier, Brian C. Weeks, Neil Carter | University of Michigan, United States | Science Advances | 51 | 10.1126/sciadv.adp7706 |
| 10 | The global loss of avian functional and phylogenetic diversity from anthropogenic extinctions | Thomas J Matthews, Kostas A Triantis, Joseph P Wayman, Thomas E Martin, Julian P Hume, Pedro Cardoso, Søren Faurby, Chase D Mendenhall, Paul Dufour, François Rigal, Rob Cooke, Robert J Whittaker, Alex L Pigot, Christophe Thébaud, Maria Wagner Jørgensen, Eva Benavides, Filipa C Soares, Werner Ulrich, Yasuhiro Kubota, Jon P Sadler, Joseph A Tobias, Ferran Sayol | Thomas J. Matthews, Joseph A. Tobias, Ferran Sayol | Imperial College London, United Kingdom | Science | 48 | 10.1126/science.adk7898 |
| 11 | Mapping the planet’s critical areas for biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people | Rachel A Neugarten, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Richard P Sharp, Richard Schuster, Matthew Strimas-Mackey, Patrick R Roehrdanz, Mark Mulligan, Arnout van Soesbergen, David Hole, Christina M Kennedy, James R Oakleaf, Justin A Johnson, Joseph Kiesecker, Stephen Polasky, Jeffrey O Hanson, Amanda D Rodewald | Rachel Neugarten | Cornell University, United States | Nature Communications | 47 | 10.1038/s41467-023-43832-9 |
| 12 | Spatiotemporal dynamics and forecasting of ecological security pattern under the consideration of protecting habitat: a case study of the Poyang Lake ecoregion | Min Huang, Daohong Gong, Li Zhang, Hui Lin, Yong Chen, Daoye Zhu, Changjiang Xiao, Orhan Altan | Changjiang Xiao | Jiangxi Normal University, China | International Journal of Digital Earth | 46 | 10.1080/17538947.2024.2376277 |
| 13 | Anthropogenic climate and land-use change drive short- and long-term biodiversity shifts across taxa | Teresa Montràs-Janer, Andrew J Suggitt, Richard Fox, Mari Jönsson, Blaise Martay, David B Roy, Kevin J Walker, Alistair G Auffret | Alistair G. Auffret | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 45 | 10.1038/s41559-024-02326-7 |
| 14 | Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape | A Cole Burton, Christopher Beirne, Kaitlyn M Gaynor, Catherine Sun, Alys Granados, Maximilian L Allen, Jesse M Alston, Guilherme C Alvarenga, Francisco Samuel Álvarez Calderón, Zachary Amir, Christine Anhalt-Depies, Cara Appel, Stephanny Arroyo-Arce, Guy Balme, Avi Bar-Massada, Daniele Barcelos, Evan Barr, Erika L Barthelmess, Carolina Baruzzi, Sayantani M Basak, Natalie Beenaerts, Jonathan Belmaker, Olgirda Belova, Branko Bezarević, Tori Bird, Daniel A Bogan, Neda Bogdanović, Andy Boyce, Mark Boyce, LaRoy Brandt, Jedediah F Brodie, Jarred Brooke, Jakub W Bubnicki, Francesca Cagnacci, Benjamin Scott Carr, João Carvalho, Jim Casaer, Rok Černe, Ron Chen, Emily Chow, Marcin Churski, Connor Cincotta, Duško Ćirović, T D Coates, Justin Compton, Courtney Coon, Michael V Cove, Anthony P Crupi, Simone Dal Farra, Andrea K Darracq, Miranda Davis, Kimberly Dawe, Valerie De Waele, Esther Descalzo, Tom A Diserens, Jakub Drimaj, Martin Duľa, Susan Ellis-Felege, Caroline Ellison, Alper Ertürk, Jean Fantle-Lepczyk, Jorie Favreau, Mitch Fennell, Pablo Ferreras, Francesco Ferretti, Christian Fiderer, Laura Finnegan, Jason T Fisher, M Caitlin Fisher-Reid, Elizabeth A Flaherty, Urša Fležar, Jiří Flousek, Jennifer M Foca, Adam Ford, Barbara Franzetti, Sandra Frey, Sarah Fritts, Šárka Frýbová, Brett Furnas, Brian Gerber, Hayley M Geyle, Diego G Giménez, Anthony J Giordano, Tomislav Gomercic, Matthew E Gompper, Diogo Maia Gräbin, Morgan Gray, Austin Green, Robert Hagen, Robert Bob Hagen, Steven Hammerich, Catharine Hanekom, Christopher Hansen, Steven Hasstedt, Mark Hebblewhite, Marco Heurich, Tim R Hofmeester, Tru Hubbard, David Jachowski, Patrick A Jansen, Kodi Jo Jaspers, Alex Jensen, Mark Jordan, Mariane C Kaizer, Marcella J Kelly, Michel T Kohl, Stephanie Kramer-Schadt, Miha Krofel, Andrea Krug, Kellie M Kuhn, Dries P J Kuijper, Erin K Kuprewicz, Josip Kusak, Miroslav Kutal, Diana J R Lafferty, Summer LaRose, Marcus Lashley, Richard Lathrop, Thomas E Lee, Christopher Lepczyk, Damon B Lesmeister, Alain Licoppe, Marco Linnell, Jan Loch, Robert Long, Robert C Lonsinger, Julie Louvrier, Matthew Scott Luskin, Paula MacKay, Sean Maher, Benoît Manet, Gareth K H Mann, Andrew J Marshall, David Mason, Zara McDonald, Tracy McKay, William J McShea, Matt Mechler, Claude Miaud, Joshua J Millspaugh, Claudio M Monteza-Moreno, Dario Moreira-Arce, Kayleigh Mullen, Christopher Nagy, Robin Naidoo, Itai Namir, Carrie Nelson, Brian O'Neill, M Teague O'Mara, Valentina Oberosler, Christian Osorio, Federico Ossi, Pablo Palencia, Kimberly Pearson, Luca Pedrotti, Charles E Pekins, Mary Pendergast, Fernando F Pinho, Radim Plhal, Xochilt Pocasangre-Orellana, Melissa Price, Michael Procko, Mike D Proctor, Emiliano Esterci Ramalho, Nathan Ranc, Slaven Reljic, Katie Remine, Michael Rentz, Ronald Revord, Rafael Reyna-Hurtado, Derek Risch, Euan G Ritchie, Andrea Romero, Christopher Rota, Francesco Rovero, Helen Rowe, Christian Rutz, Marco Salvatori, Derek Sandow, Christopher M Schalk, Jenna Scherger, Jan Schipper, Daniel G Scognamillo, Çağan H Şekercioğlu, Paola Semenzato, Jennifer Sevin, Hila Shamon, Catherine Shier, Eduardo A Silva-Rodríguez, Magda Sindicic, Lucy K Smyth, Anil Soyumert, Tiffany Sprague, Colleen Cassady St Clair, Jennifer Stenglein, Philip A Stephens, Kinga Magdalena Stępniak, Michael Stevens, Cassondra Stevenson, Bálint Ternyik, Ian Thomson, Rita T Torres, Joan Tremblay, Tomas Urrutia, Jean-Pierre Vacher, Darcy Visscher, Stephen L Webb, Julian Weber, Katherine C B Weiss, Laura S Whipple, Christopher A Whittier, Jesse Whittington, Izabela Wierzbowska, Martin Wikelski, Jacque Williamson, Christopher C Wilmers, Todd Windle, Heiko U Wittmer, Yuri Zharikov, Adam Zorn, Roland Kays | A. Cole Burton | University of British Columbia, Canada | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 44 | 10.1038/s41559-024-02363-2 |
| 15 | Ecological network assessment in dynamic landscapes: Multi-scenario simulation and conservation priority analysis | Jing Gao, Jian Gong, Yao Li, Jianxin Yang, Xun Liang | Jian Gong | University of Twente, Netherlands | Land Use Policy | 43 | 10.1016/j.landusepol.2024.107059 |
| 16 | Treating gaps and biases in biodiversity data as a missing data problem | Diana E Bowler, Robin J Boyd, Corey T Callaghan, Robert A Robinson, Nick J B Isaac, Michael J O Pocock | Diana E. Bowler | UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, United Kingdom | Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society | 43 | 10.1111/brv.13127 |
| 17 | Application of MSPA-MCR models to construct ecological security pattern in the basin: A case study of Dawen River basin | Fangyuan Zhang, Yanyan Jia, Xinlong Liu, Tianlu Li, Qingrui Gao | Yanyan Jia | Shandong Agricultural University, China | Ecological Indicators | 39 | 10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.111887 |
| 18 | The impact of habitat loss and fragmentation on biodiversity in global protected areas | Rongyan Yuan, Ning Zhang, Qing Zhang | Qing Zhang | Inner Mongolia University, China | The Science of The Total Environment | 39 | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173004 |
| 19 | Incorporating barriers restoration and stepping stones establishment to enhance the connectivity of watershed ecological security patterns | Dongmei Xu, Jian Peng, Hong Jiang, Jianquan Dong, Menglin Liu, Yiyun Chen, Jiansheng Wu, Jeroen Meersmans | Jian Peng | Peking University, China | Applied Geography | 39 | 10.1016/j.apgeog.2024.103347 |
| 20 | Identifying ecological security patterns to prioritize conservation and restoration：A case study in Xishuangbanna tropical region, China | Jie Wang, Yang Bai, Zhongde Huang, Anam Ashraf, Maroof Ali, Zhou Fang, Xue Lü | Yang Bai | Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Journal of Cleaner Production | 38 | 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141222 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

In the Class of 2026, research in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation is heavily focused on landscape-level connectivity and ecological security. Dominant topics include "Ecological corridors", "Ecological security pattern", and "Ecological source areas", which collectively highlight a structural approach to conservation. This spatial focus is further reinforced by the prominence of "Habitat fragmentation" and "landscape connectivity". The methodological backbone supporting these priorities is "Species distribution modeling", a critical tool for identifying key habitats. This cluster of topics implies that the field is moving beyond simply cataloging biodiversity, prioritizing actionable, large-scale spatial planning to ensure species persistence across fragmented landscapes.

*Leading research themes*

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

The shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026 illustrates a clear transition from documenting environmental threats toward developing proactive conservation frameworks. Topics like "Ecological security pattern", "Ecological source areas", and "Ecosystem services" saw massive growth, becoming central to the highest-cited papers. Concurrently, traditional impact-focused themes such as "Extinction risk", "Habitat loss", and "Urbanization" experienced a relative decline in prominence. This pattern suggests that the research community is increasingly focused on systemic solutions and large-scale spatial planning—identifying critical areas and preserving connectivity—rather than just quantifying the magnitude of ecological decline.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/wildlife-ecology-and-conservation/2026. Accessed 2026-07-17.

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
```