Water Scarcity and Slow-Onset Ecological Disasters: A Global Bibliometric Review

Water scarcity is increasingly recognized as a slow-onset ecological crisis with major environmental, socio-economic and governance effects, yet systematic assessments of how research on this topic has evolved remain limited. This study addresses this gap through a bibliometric and thematic analysis of water-scarcity publications from 2000 to 2025, using VOSviewer (version 1.6.20), Biblioshiny™ (Bibliometrix version 4.3.1) and RStudio (version 2024.12.1 + 563) to map research trends, conceptual clusters and leading contributing countries, institutions and authors. The analysis shows that water scarcity research is organized around four dominant themes: adaptive water management and climate resilience, plant physiological responses to drought and water stress, ecosystem resilience and biodiversity under water scarcity, and water-limited agriculture and food security. Early scholarship focused heavily on biophysical processes such as drought tolerance and hydraulic conductivity, while recent studies increasingly incorporate socio-ecological, governance and policy dimensions, reflecting a shift toward holistic, solution-oriented approaches. Overall, the study provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution and global distribution of water scarcity research, highlighting the importance of integrating biophysical knowledge with human-centered strategies to support evidence-based decision-making, strengthen inclusive water governance, and enhance socio-ecological resilience in the face of a changing climate.