Research evolution on soil aggregate-mediated carbon stabilization

The physical protection of soil organic matter (SOM) in aggregates is recognized as a mechanism for stabilizing carbon (C) in soils, with direct implications for climate change mitigation. This study analyzed the global scientific production on the physical protection of SOM in soil aggregates based on a bibliometric analysis using the Bibliometrix package in R software. Studies in physical protection of SOM in soil aggregates started in 1995 and have produced over 331 scientific papers in the English language until 2025. The significant growth in scientific production occurred from 2015, with an average growth of 10.21% per year and a document average age of 7.85 years, indicating that this is an active and expanding field. China is the main center of global scientific production (51.8% of global publications), followed by the United States (10.8%), Germany (4.5%), Brazil (3.9%), and France (3.9%). However, China does not have the biggest international collaboration. Chinese institutions and authors have a strong national collaborative network, with punctual international collaboration, which makes them lead the most productive and high-level specialized rankings in the field. The term "soil organic matter" constitutes a lasting conceptual axis throughout the entire period, but "soil aggregates", "carbon", and "aggregate stability" form the conceptual core of the field from 2016 onwards, indicating that physical protection of SOM in soil aggregates is a continuously evolving scientific field. Trend topic analyses indicate that future research should integrate physical-biological, isotopic, and microstructural approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of management in stabilizing carbon in soil aggregates.