Origin, evolution, currents of thought, and methodological implications of the agroecosystem concept: a review

Resumen

ABSTRACT. The objective of the research was to analyze the different currents of thought and to describe the origin and evolution of the concept of agroecosystems across different studies.

Methodology. A state-of-the-art analysis of the agroecosystem concept was conducted using the Web of Science platform, considering 225 articles with the TITLE "Agroecosystem" AND KEYWORDS "Agroecosystem." Metrics such as year, country, sustainable development goals (SDGs), language, summary, and conclusions were also considered. A bibliometric analysis was performed using VOSviewer software, and graphs were created to visualize the bibliographic connections between the documents obtained from the Web of Science database.

Results. Articles from 1991 to 2024 were identified, with over 90% published from 2018 to the present. The top countries publishing this type of research are the USA, China, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy, accounting for 82% of the publications. The remaining 18% are spread across 44 countries worldwide. The predominant language is English (96%), followed by Spanish (3.1%) and Russian (1%).

Conclusions. The concept of agroecosystems is embedded in the social, cultural, political, and economic contexts, as all these aspects are directly related to agriculture, livestock, fishing, and other essential activities for feeding humanity. These activities are carried out within agroecosystems managed by humans for both commercial and self-consumption purposes, aiming to satisfy society's demand for food, goods, services, and inputs.