Advance on wildlife habitat restoration: bibliometric analysis

Suitable habitat is essential for wildlife survival and persistence． However, human activities have contributed significantly to the degradation and fragmentation of wildlife habitats, worldwide． Therefore, researchers have directed their attention towards studying wildlife habitat restoration, with numerous publications． However, no comprehensive review of such studies have appeared． A total of 2 081 papers have been published on wildlife habitat restoration from 1991, as identified in Web of Science． Annual publication trends, core research topics, and research content were analyzed using CiteSpace 6.2.R1, aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of the research status and to envisage future research directions． Current restoration efforts were found primarily focused on aquatic habitats in European and American countries． Future research should emphasize terrestrial wildlife, such as birds and mammals, and consider potential impacts of functional traits and global climate change on restoration outcomes． Integrating “nature-based solutions” with habitat restoration efforts should be very important．