Exploring natural capital using bibliometrics and social media data

Abstract

Research and interest into natural capital, i.e., the stock of the world's natural resources, is increasing as it links humans with nature within a social-ecological system, contributing to ecosystem sustainability. We collected publication data for 300 natural capital papers to explore academic networks and research trends. We used Twitter to collect 14,193 tweets about natural capital over nine months. Analyzing publication data shows three main research clusters, but few coauthorships between the clusters. The results show substantial international coauthorships, and the dominance of American and British academics as coauthors. Analyzing Twitter data, we identified a small community of key users that tweet about natural capital frequently. We found that a range of words is used in tweets about natural capital and the overall sentiment of tweets is positive. For both types of data, "ecosystem services" and "biodiversity" are keywords associated with natural capital. Our results have identified key communities of natural capital researchers, but highlight a potential disconnect between research clusters that needs to be addressed. Current communities surrounding natural capital in academia and on Twitter are relatively exclusive and small.

A Natural Capital Lens for a Sustainable Bioeconomy: Determining the Unrealised and Unrecognised Services from Nature

“…The distinction between the terms ecosystem services (flows) and natural capital (stocks) is an important point of clarification in the natural capital concept that is often lost in application [63]. Ecosystem services contribute to human wellbeing and the economy-they are explicitly anthropocentric and dependent on human demand [52]-but are a downstream product of ecosystem functions, produced from natural capital stocks ( Figure 2), and realised through interactions with human and manufactured capital [22,64].…”

“…Research initiatives by organisations such as the Capitals Coalition, The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and TEEB have adopted an international and collaborative approach that reflects how ecosystems transcend national boundaries and are relevant to all disciplines. However, there is evidence to suggest the natural capital concept remains clustered within highly specialised groups, dominated by wealthy, English speaking nations that may limit collaboration and bridging between clusters [63,75].…”

“…Providing the tools to effectively validate and communicate environmental sustainability contributions of bioeconomic activities is one of the capabilities needed to secure this cornerstone. Social media networks involving natural capital have already been observed as a communication tool [63], and the rise in online learning opportunities such as the Stanford-based Natural Capital Project provide additional resources and lessons learned for the bioeconomy as it develops [86].…”

Ecosystem Services: A Social and Semantic Network Analysis of Public Opinion on Twitter

“…Most authors, however, have focused exclusively on cultural ecosystem services by mapping and quantifying them using images [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], and few of them have analysed their social perceptions [ 15 , 35 , 36 ]. With reference to Twitter, several authors have analysed the social perception of natural capital, that is, nature and its ecosystem services and protected areas [ 37 , 38 , 39 ] or people’s emotions [ 40 ], but few have focused exclusively on ecosystem services and specifically cultural services [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. The only study that analysed the perception of ecosystem services in a broad sense focused on a specific geographical area, namely the Laurentian Great Lakes [ 45 ].…”

“…Based on the empirical evidence found in the literature [ 38 , 39 ], the topic under research and our theories, the respective hypotheses for the research questions were identified: (H1) In the social network, there are good interactions between users and high content sharing. (H2) Most influential users in the network are scientists or researchers.…”