Trends and patterns in microbial research within forest ecosystems: bibliometric insights from 2010 to 2025

Microorganisms form intricate relationships with all living organisms on Earth, and forests are no exception. This study highlights a bibliometric analysis of microbial research from 2010 to 2025. Relevant publications were retrieved from the Scopus database. This study included all types of microorganisms and their related research in forest ecosystems. The software VOSviewer and the package for Bibliometrix R were used for analysis and data visualization. The study resulted in 7316 documents from 1398 sources (journals, books, etc.) with an 8.89% annual growth rate of publications. The highest number of publications (745) was recorded in 2024. Furthermore, relevant keyword analysis revealed “Fungi” as the major term with 1404 occurrences. ‘Applied Soil Ecology’, ‘Forests’, 'Plant and Soil', and ‘Soil Biology and Biochemistry’ were the most productive journals. China was a major country in terms of the number of publications, but the USA was central to international collaboration research. Thematic mapping identified “fungi, bacteria, microbial community, and soil microorganisms” as motor topics. Mycorrhiza, host-plant interactions, and plant diseases were identified as emerging or declining themes. Trend topic analyses revealed a shift towards ‘microbials’. These findings provide insights into research trends, knowledge distribution, and emerging frontiers in the utilization of microorganisms for sustainable management of forests. Numerous facets of microbial community dynamics, assembly principles, and host interactions remain unclear, prompting quick action in this direction.