Bibliometrics and knowledge-mapping analysis of progress in agricultural heritage research in China: Based on the China Knowledge Network and Web of Science databases

Since initiation of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) conservation program by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), academic communities have begun to focus more research efforts on agricultural heritage. The present study searched the China Knowledge Network (CNKI) and Web of Science databases for "agricultural heritage" studies published from 2006 to 2019 and analyzed 240 relevant articles using bibliometrics and knowledge mapping. From 2006 to 2019, researches of Chinese agricultural heritage had progressed in three stages: initial exploration, rapid growth, and steady development. In regard to journal carriers, a core group was formed of eight journals, which included "Agricultural History of China" "China Agricultural University Journal of Social Sciences Edition" "Resources Science" "Chinese Journal of Eco-Agriculture", and "Journal of Resources and Ecology". The Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Nanjing Agricultural University, for example, played important roles in academic research. And MIN Qingwen, WANG Siming, and their team members were among the most prolific authors. Meanwhile, agricultural heritage conservation and utilization, tourism development, and value assessment were the most common research focuses; and case studies were mainly concentrated in Yunnan, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guizhou, Guangxi, and other provinces with globally and nationally important agricultural heritage systems. In respect to research methods, case studies and qualitative analysis were the most common. In the future, researchers should 1) continue to perform basic theoretical studies about the definition, classification, conservation mechanisms, and patterns of agricultural heritage; 2) develop new areas of agricultural heritage research, including investigation of its spatial and temporal evolution, development of monitoring and warning mechanisms, and assessment of economic-social-cultural-ecological environmental effects; 3) strengthen the research on agricultural heritage of key regions (e.g., "the Belt and Road" "the Grand Canal" "the Yellow River Basin", and "the Yangtze River Economic Belt") to meet the significant national strategic development needs; and 4) broaden research horizons by facilitating the integration of multidisciplinary theories, methods, technologies, and comprehensive applications and by establishing integrated agricultural heritage research communities.