Table 1. Frequency of domains and topics in ecological research 1980–2010.
| Frequency of Topics (%) | ||||
| Domain | Topic/Type | All Journals | Core Journals | |
| Single Species | Demography | 123 (16.4) | 219 (29.2) | *** |
| Physiology | 230 (30.7) | 154 (20.5) | *** | |
| Distribution | 113 (15.1) | 98 (13.1) | ||
| Behavior | 139 (18.5) | 96 (12.8) | ** | |
| Evolution | 31 (4.0) | 23 (3.0) | ||
| Genetics | 76 (10.1) | 15 (2.0) | *** | |
| Single Species | 532 (70.9) | 498 (66.4) | ||
| Species Interactions | Grazing | 17 (2.3) | 69 (9.2) | *** |
| Predation | 53 (7.1) | 66 (8.8) | ||
| Mutualism | 12 (1.6) | 16 (2.1) | ||
| Parasitism | 20 (2.7) | 35 (4.7) | * | |
| Competition | 37 (4.9) | 53 (7.1) | ||
| Species Interactions | 132 (17.6) | 224 (29.9) | *** | |
| Community | Biodiversity | 72 (9.6) | 58 (7.7) | |
| Community structure | 68 (9.1) | 82 (10.9) | ||
| Community | 124 (16.5) | 127 (16.9) | ||
| Ecosystem | Food web | 25 (3.3) | 12 (1.6) | * |
| Climate change | 15 (2.0) | 13 (1.7) | ||
| Vegetation dynamics | 30 (4.0) | 89 (11.9) | *** | |
| Biomass and productivity | 60 (8.0) | 28 (3.7) | *** | |
| Biogeochemistry | 81 (10.8) | 63 (8.4) | ||
| Ecosystem | 121 (16.1) | 135 (18.0) | ||
| Others | Scale | 7 (0.9) | 20 (2.7) | * |
| Statistics | 11 (1.5) | 17 (2.3) | ||
Differences between the two surveys are: *** significant at the Bonferroni-adjusted level, p<0.001, ** p<0.01, * p<0.05.