Avanços no conhecimento ecológico de protozoários ciliados planctônicos de água doce: uma análise cienciométrica

Abstract

Ciliate protozoa are essential elements in nutrient cycling and transfer of matter and energy along the food chain in aquatic ecosystems. However, there is still little known about the ecology of these organisms. This study aimed to identify possible spatial and temporal trends and gaps in ecological studies on freshwater planktonic ciliates. The analysis was made on the basis of scientific articles published between 1991 and 2014 in Thomson Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) (www.isiknowledge.com). We found 140 articles focused on ecology published in 58 journals, with a significant growth in scientific production between 1991 and 2006. The countries that published most on the topic were: Germany, Argentina and the United States. The continents with the highest number of publications were Europe and South and North America. Lentic habitats represented the most studied environments and the main approach used was empirical. The most investigated goals were ciliate dynamics, considering the influence of abiotic and biotic factors, amounting to 45 articles, trophic relationships and energy flow, with 37 articles. The scientometric research was essential to identify patterns and gaps in the study of freshwater planktonic ciliates, indicating the need for experimental and theoretical studies to support conservation efforts and to subsidize further investigations testing ecological hypotheses.