Plant Diversity and Citizen Science: A Comparative Bibliometric Analysis with a Focus on Greece as a Case Study

Citizen science (CS), meaning the participation of the public in scientific research, is very popular for studying many aspects of biodiversity. Plant diversity on the other hand has not been extensively studied with CS in spite of the critical role of plants in ecosystems. To acquire a clearer picture of this field of research we carried out a comparative bibliometric analysis of articles from 2005 to 2026 on four geographical levels: globally, Europe, Mediterranean and Greece. We used the Biblioshiny web app with data extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Differences in both the quantity and the quality of research were shown, as well as a great degree of lack of plant awareness (LPA). Very little research in this field has been conducted for Greece in spite of its rich plant diversity. Our findings also confirm the existence of bias in the socio-economic background of participants in CS. It is worth noting that plant diversity and CS play a key role in achieving the United Nations SDGs. Consequently, plant-focused CS on a global and regional scale should be further evolved to reverse topic development dissimilarities, combat LPA and support sustainable development. Given the context of Greece, amplifying scientific efforts could further develop botanical knowledge and its applications in a biodiversity hotspot.