Beyond Phragmites and Typha: A Global Bibliometric Analysis and Strategic Selection of Pioneer Macrophytes for Wastewater Treatment

Beyond Phragmites and Typha: A Global Bibliometric Analysis and Strategic Selection of Pioneer Macrophytes for Wastewater Treatment | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review Beyond Phragmites and Typha: A Global Bibliometric Analysis and Strategic Selection of Pioneer Macrophytes for Wastewater Treatment Nisrine Blil, Zakaria Sahbani, Khadija Manhou, Doha Boumalik, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8337730/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Rising global wastewater generation is damaging aquatic ecosystems resulting in the need for sustainable treatment options, such as Constructed Wetlands (CWs). At this time, phytoremediation is primarily relying on a few predominant plant species ("monoculture"). This research maps the current global research landscape (1969–2025) to identify neglected "pioneer" macrophyte species to expand treatment options for CWs and quantify species saturation. A complete multi-database search (Scopus, Web of Science, OpenAlex) was performed, and after extensive harmonization in R software, the corpus was comprised of 37,379 unique documents detailing the environmental use of over 100 plant genera. Results indicate overwhelming research saturation for Phragmites australis (877 papers), Eichhornia crassipes (534), and Typha latifolia (370) compared to the cluster of "pioneer" candidates, which are rarely cited (< 10 times for each) and have only recently emerged (e.g., Mentha aquatica, Salicornia persica, Cyperus eragrostis ). Although current "star" species comprise the majority of the existing knowledge base, these plants may not have the desired resilience to certain abiotic conditions (e.g., high salinity). Conversely, the currently undefinable "pioneer" species also represent an untapped potential reservoir, however hypothetical, for application in CW phytoremediation. This analysis offers a foundation for future experimental validation of the identified "pioneer" candidates to facilitate advancements in phytotechnologies and extend the biological applications beyond what is currently known. Agronomy Agroecology Conservation Biology Evolutionary Developmental Biology Evolutionary Biology Phytoremediation Wastewater Treatment Pioneer Species Phragmites Macrophytes Sustainability Biological Diversity. Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Table 1 and 2 are available in the Supplementary Files section. Supplementary Files table1.png Flowchart of the bibliometric methodology, data fusion process, and species selection strategy. table2.png TreeMap (Visualizations of keyword frequency) Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8337730","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":558898835,"identity":"ceff7b75-9117-4e0b-903e-4ea2d6087f44","order_by":0,"name":"Nisrine 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12:39:23","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":58145,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFlowchart of the bibliometric methodology, data fusion process, and species selection \u0026nbsp;strategy.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"table1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8337730/v1/2137596a4113ae0184fcedbd.png"},{"id":98428672,"identity":"0f79d0ff-2438-46bf-8f46-65bbae0b7532","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-17 16:42:15","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":87508,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eTreeMap (Visualizations of keyword frequency)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"table2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8337730/v1/092288e023d881ab892645cd.png"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 1 and 2 are available in the Supplementary Files section.\u003c/p\u003e","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eBeyond Phragmites and Typha: A Global Bibliometric Analysis and Strategic Selection of Pioneer Macrophytes for Wastewater Treatment\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Université Ibn-Tofail","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Phytoremediation, Wastewater Treatment, Pioneer Species, Phragmites, Macrophytes, Sustainability, Biological Diversity.","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8337730/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8337730/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eRising global wastewater generation is damaging aquatic ecosystems resulting in the need for sustainable treatment options, such as Constructed Wetlands (CWs). At this time, phytoremediation is primarily relying on a few predominant plant species (\"monoculture\"). This research maps the current global research landscape (1969\u0026ndash;2025) to identify neglected \"pioneer\" macrophyte species to expand treatment options for CWs and quantify species saturation. A complete multi-database search (Scopus, Web of Science, OpenAlex) was performed, and after extensive harmonization in R software, the corpus was comprised of 37,379 unique documents detailing the environmental use of over 100 plant genera. Results indicate overwhelming research saturation for \u003cem\u003ePhragmites australis\u003c/em\u003e (877 papers), \u003cem\u003eEichhornia crassipes\u003c/em\u003e (534), and \u003cem\u003eTypha latifolia\u003c/em\u003e (370) compared to the cluster of \"pioneer\" candidates, which are rarely cited (\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;10 times for each) and have only recently emerged (e.g., \u003cem\u003eMentha aquatica, Salicornia persica, Cyperus eragrostis\u003c/em\u003e). Although current \"star\" species comprise the majority of the existing knowledge base, these plants may not have the desired resilience to certain abiotic conditions (e.g., high salinity). Conversely, the currently undefinable \"pioneer\" species also represent an untapped potential reservoir, however hypothetical, for application in CW phytoremediation. This analysis offers a foundation for future experimental validation of the identified \"pioneer\" candidates to facilitate advancements in phytotechnologies and extend the biological applications beyond what is currently known.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Beyond Phragmites and Typha: A Global Bibliometric Analysis and Strategic Selection of Pioneer Macrophytes for Wastewater Treatment","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-12 12:39:18","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8337730/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"a6a3050c-3ef5-4c3f-b99c-f9a9bb7fdfc3","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 12th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":59497358,"name":"Agronomy"},{"id":59497359,"name":"Agroecology"},{"id":59497360,"name":"Conservation Biology"},{"id":59497361,"name":"Evolutionary Developmental Biology"},{"id":59497362,"name":"Evolutionary Biology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-12T12:39:19+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-12 12:39:18","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8337730","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8337730","identity":"rs-8337730","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}