Mapping mining-area biodiversity research and its educational relevance: A bibliometric analysis of selected Asian countries over a decade

Abstract

This study maps publication growth, disciplinary foundations, geographic contributions, keyword structures, and thematic trajectories in selected Asian countries during 2015–2025. A Scopus query was filtered to English final-stage journal articles associated with the selected Asian countries included in the search strategy (n=118). We conducted performance analysis and science mapping using VOSviewer (network, overlay, density) and bibliometrics (thematic map, trend topics). Publications were sparse until 2018, consolidated in 2019–2021, and accelerated after 2022, peaking in 2025. The field is led by Environmental Sciences (32.5%) and Agricultural /Biological Sciences (14.9%), with Social Sciences (12.9%) providing a growing bridge. Output is highly concentrated in China, followed by Indonesia and India. Core keywords centre on mining, water quality, contamination, heavy metals, ecosystems, and sustainability, while recent work emphasizes land use, soil, environmental monitoring, remote sensing, machine learning, and risk assessment. The findings demonstrate that the retrieved literature is predominantly environmental rather than education-led. Education-related constructs, pedagogical approaches, and learning outcomes are not prominent within the keyword structure. Accordingly, the educational dimension should be interpreted as an underdeveloped research opportunity rather than an established characteristic of the field. Future studies should explicitly integrate pedagogical frameworks and measurable learning outcomes with ecological monitoring in mining-affected contexts.