Rainwater harvesting techniques deciphered: unravelling the current use and limitations of the ditches term with a textual analysis of scientific literature

The sustainable management of linear NBS for face aridity in agroecosystems, including ditches, trenches, channels, and waterways, requires a clear understanding of their specific functions and services. Among the different terms, "ditches" provide a straightforward description of human-made elongated ground depressions used for reducing soil erosion or for water re-infiltration, drainage, or irrigation. However, this term's specificity might fail to convey the historical significance of the related structures, their management diversity, or environmental impacts. For this reason, researchers use different terms, together with ditches or even as synonyms, generating confusion. How to decipher the multiple uses of this term? The increasing availability of curated databases of scientific literature and the advances in information science now offer opportunities to handle the growing body of academic output and the inconsistencies in vocabulary. In particular, textual analysis through data mining approaches can help explore the use of terms and their interrelationships within the scientific community without predefined notions. This study aims to provide an overview of the topics associated with "ditch," trace its evolving usage over recent decades, and identify potential gaps and synonyms. To this end, we performed a textual analysis of literature from the Web of Science database from 1955 to July 2023, including all documents mentioning "ditch*" in titles, abstracts, and author keywords. Data were processed using the CorTexT Manager open platform, employing natural language processing scripts. Findings reveal that drainage ditches were referenced more than irrigation ditches, with a recent spike in studies linking ditches to paddy fields. In the last decade, research interest has been highest in China, steady but lower in Europe, and consistently low in the US. While interest in land use related to ditches has declined, the focus on ecosystem services and climate change, particularly greenhouse gas emissions from ditches, has increased. In conclusion, the use of the term ditch evolved from technical applications to studying related services yet separately examining different agricultural landscapes. A system approach to ditches would help encompass their different functions and services.