Frontier and Hot Topics in Watershed Ecological Compensation Based on Bibliometric Visualization Analysis

Watershed Ecological Compensation (WEC) has emerged as an essential strategy for advancing sustainable management of water resources and environmental protection. This research offers a thorough evaluation of performance, identifies current research hotspots, and predicts future trends in WEC. The bibliometric analysis of 2,189 entries from the Web of Science core database evaluates publication performance, contributions by countries and institutions, research hotspots, and emerging trends using CiteSpace and VOSviewer tools. The findings reveal a significant rise in publications on watershed eco-compensation since 2007, with leading contributions from China, the USA, England, Brazil, Germany, and Canada. Institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Normal University are at the forefront of this research area. Hotspot analysis highlights themes such as payments for ecosystem services, poverty, willingness to pay, compensation standards, and models as focal areas. Emerging trend analysis indicates that research on WEC in Latin America and China is expected to expand, with a growing emphasis on environmental justice and integrated watershed strategies. This study highlights current research hotspots, suggests future directions, and enriches the existing literature, enabling researchers to stay updated on the latest advancements.