Mapping the Research Landscape of Land Use and Land Cover Change: A Bibliometric Analysis

The Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) change is a crucial phenomenon in environmental science, reflecting the interplay between human activities and natural ecosystems. This bibliometric review examines research trends, thematic focus, and methodologies in LULC studies published between 1993 and 2023 through a systematic search criteria and PRISMA framework. Data were retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science and filtered for peer-reviewed journal articles, yielding 2,655 records. Analysis using R Bibliometrix and VOSviewer revealed a significant surge in the LULC studies after 2000, particularly from 2011 to 2020, aligned with advances in GIS and remote sensing tools. The results showed that leading journals are ‘Environmental Monitoring and Assessment’ in Scopus and ‘Ecological Indicators’ in Web of Science (WoS). The most relevant author is Burkhard Benjamin, who appears in both databases. The key themes include climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable land management, highlighting the growing interdisciplinary nature of LULC research. Emerging topics encompass urbanization, climate impacts, and ecosystem services, and spatially explicit modeling approaches, such as cellular automata, have gained prominence recently. The collaborative networks indicate China, notably Beijing Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as leading contributors. Despite major progress, gaps remain in integrating interdisciplinary perspectives and systematic classifications of LULC trends. This review underscores the importance of bibliometric analysis in guiding future LULC research and calls for stronger collaborations and policy-oriented frameworks to address global challenges. Bridging technological innovations, with socio-environmental considerations, is essential in fostering resilience in land management practices.