Outcomes of the hydromorphology integration in the Water Framework Directive: A review based on science mapping

Abstract

The goal of our review was to evaluate scientific outcomes connected to hydromorphology and Water Framework Directive by synthesizing the main themes based on keywords, research domains, and the spatial coverage of high visibility publications. These data were integrated into a social network analysis to understand the structure of science related to our topic. Thus, we investigated 183 articles and conference proceedings from the Web of Science Core Collection. Among the 505 authors keywords, the central ones in our network were Water Framework Directive, hydromorphology, macroinvertebrates, ecological status, water quality, reference conditions, and river. The characteristics of the network of keywords indicated that information developed around a few key-concepts linked to numerous peripheral keywords, which highlighted some main themes of research. Hydromorphology appeared mostly in articles with macroinvertebrates and river restoration, suggesting the acceptance of environmental-based paradigm in water bodies' management. Consequently, we expected to count the majority of publications in Environmental Sciences & Ecology research domain. Issues related to the society (e.g. public participation, stakeholders) didn't appear in our analysis. Publications covered especially European Union member states, the network being dominated by Germany, Italy, and UK in terms of both study area and authorship. Besides traditional scientific relations between Western and Northern European states, we also noticed numerous comparisons between Danube countries. To comment the position of these publications in the scientific world, we used the Article Influence Score, which was below the average for the main research domain of Environmental Sciences & Ecology, probably as a consequence of the regional cover and concern of the Water Framework Directive. Further, we recommend more connections between environmental and social sciences, as well as between countries and we encourage funding for open access publications in order to increase the visibility and influence of the topic of hydromorphology and Water Framework Directive both bibliometrically and for decision and policy makers.

Keywords: Ecological status; European Union; Hydromorphology; Social network analysis; Water Framework Directive.