Gaps in tropical science from unrepresentative distribution of sampling and citation across natural terrestrial environments
Effective environmental policies for the tropics depend on accurate, representative scientific data. However, there is strong evidence from particular disciplines and regions that existing research is patchily distributed. Here, we show that poor representation of sampling and citation in some biomes and across key environmental gradients from all disciplines for the entire tropics may lead to flawed scientific paradigms and inappropriate policy prescriptions. We map sampling locations and citations from 2 738 published studies in natural terrestrial tropical environments across all disciplines to identify gaps in field sampling effort and research attention. Five ecoregions - all in moist broadleaf forests - generate 22% of the total citations but cover only 3% of the tropical land area. By contrast, drier biomes with low tree cover account collectively for 57% of the tropical area but generate only 20% of total citations. Locations that are drier, colder, with greater plant species richness, lower tree cover and facing greater climate change extremes are under-sampled and under-cited. Our results will help to correct these imbalances to improve the scientific basis for environmental policies across the tropics.
Authors
- Mirindi Eric Dusenge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4218-0911)
- Kenneth J. Feeley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3618-1144)
- Micael Jonsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1618-2617)
- Paul Kardol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7065-3435)
- Jing Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7961-8214)
- Thomas Cherico Wanger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0435-1153)
- Nitin Chaudhary (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7001-3155)
- Maria Wittemann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3323-1556)
- E. Petter Axelsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0906-8365)
- Aida Bargués Tobella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5632-4061)
- Daniel B. Metcalfe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8325-9269)
- Myriam Mujawamariya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8852-8499)
- Norma Salinas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9941-2109)
- Janet S. Prevéy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2879-6453)
- David C. Bartholomew (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8123-1817)
- Shubhangi Lamba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0438-6134)
- Arvid Lindh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2202-1334)
- Nathalie Butt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1517-6191)
- Thirze Hermans (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1481-1552)
- Anna‐Maria Virkkala (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4877-2918)
- Cecilia A. L. Dahlsjö (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3795-1523)
- Bernice C. Hwang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3744-9771)
- Göran Wallin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5359-1102)
- Daniel Lussetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1373-433X)
- Olivier Jean Leonce Manzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5255-5652)
- Hinsby Cadillo‐Quiroz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4908-4597)
- Timon Callebaut (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3161-1855)
- Wenxin Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9477-563X)
- Olivia K. Vought (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4012-1957)
- April E. Bermudez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3870-030X)
- Yan Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6286-4394)
- Emily Anders (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0773-881X)
- Gavyn Mewett (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9493-2616)
- Hanna Axén (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2792-1685)
Institutions
- Australian National University (AU)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Finnish Meteorological Institute (FI)
- Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AU)
- University of Leeds (GB)
- Woodwell Climate Research Center (US)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Stockholm Resilience Centre (SE)
- University of Miami (US)
- Botanic Gardens Conservation International (GB)
- Universitat de Lleida (ES)
- University of New Hampshire (US)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- University of New Mexico (US)
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (US)
- Lund University (SE)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- Universität Innsbruck (AT)
- University of Exeter (GB)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Leverhulme Trust (GB)
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE)
- Westlake University (CN)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- University of Rwanda (RW)
- Institute of Nature Management (BY)
- Rwanda Development Board (RW)
- Umeå Plant Science Centre (SE)
- Agroscope (CH)
- Science Oxford (GB)
- Beijing Haidian Hospital (CN)
- China Agricultural University (CN)
- Arizona State University (US)
- Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PE)
- Zhejiang University (CN)
- University of Glasgow (GB)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- Umeå University (SE)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-12-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67617-4
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.84
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Vetenskapsrådet