Microsoft Word - 32-Bio_23585


941 
Original Article 

Biosci. J., Uberlândia, v. 31, n. 3, p. 941-950, May/June. 2015 

THE STATE OF GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE ON CHLOROPHYLL-A 
 

O ESTADO DA ARTE DA LITERATURA CIENTÍFICA GLOBAL SOBRE CLOROFILA-A 
 

Suzana Maria Loures de Oliveira MARCIONILIO1; Maria Tereza Ribeiro ALVES1; 
 Pedro Paulino BORGES1; Karine Borges MACHADO1; Cleide Sandra Tavares ARAÚJO1; 

Hélida Ferreira da CUNHA1; João Carlos NABOUT1 
1. Universidade Estadual de Goiás, Campus Ciências Exatas e Tecnológicas (CCET), Anápolis, GO, Brasil. joao.nabout@ueg.br 

 
ABSTRACT: Chlorophyll is a green pigment common to all photosynthetic cells of autotrophic organisms in 

aquatic or terrestrial environments. Techniques used to quantify this pigment include fluorescence, UV spectrophotometer, 
chromatography, HPLC, and remote sensing. Determination of the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll - a (Chl-a), has 
been used widely in many areas of science. The present study investigated the state of the global scientific literature on 
Chl-a, determining the countries, approaches, and environments where Chl-a has been studied and the geographic scale 
used. To obtain this scientometric information, we conducted a study from the Scopus database over a 21-year period from 
1990 through 2011. This period saw significant increases in the number of publications (r=0.84 and P< 0.001), different 
journals where publications appeared (160 journals), major papers with a multidisciplinary character, and a predominance 
of descriptive approaches with studies conducted in aquatic and marine habitats at a regional scale. The country with the 
highest number of publications was China (21.64% of total papers; location of study), and the USA had the highest 
number of authors (19.52% of total papers). The main determining factor for publications was socioeconomic (according 
to model selection criteria; AIC). This study highlight the multidisciplinary use of Chl-a, and may give some directions to 
new studies about this pigment. 
 

KEYWORDS: Photosynthetic pigment. Scientometrics. Water. Phytoplankton biomass. 
 
INTRODUCTION 

 
The term chlorophyll (Chl-a) was proposed 

by Pelletier and Caventou (1818) to describe the 
green substance that can be extracted from leaves 
with the assistance of organic solvents (LLOYD; 
TUCKER, 1988). The Chl-a pigment captures 
photons (pigment-antenna), and is present in all 
living things that perform oxygenic photosynthesis 
(BJORN et al., 2009). Quantification of Chl-a has 
been used as a tool in various fields of knowledge, 
including bioenergy (SKJANES et al., 2007), 
biotechnology (KOZIOL et al., 2007), botany 
(THOMAS et al., 2001), ecotoxicology (PEREZ et 
al., 2008; SUBASHCHANDRABOSE et al., 2011; 
RIANO et al., 2012), marine ecology (HAWES et 
al., 2012; THOMAS et al., 2001), limnology 
(WETZEL, 2001; HUO et al., 2012), remote sensing 
(NOVOA et al., 2011; GURLIN et al., 2011) and 
agriculture (KRAUSE et al., 2010; ZHANG et al., 
2010; FERNANDEZ-JARAMILLO et al., 2012).  

Chl-a is present in both aquatic and 
terrestrial environments is used in various areas of 
science as the control variable. As this study 
proposed an outline of Chl-a in global research by 
scientometric, in order to identify research interests 
with this variable. Scientometric techniques can be 
used to quantify scientific production and the types 
of studies in a certain area (MACIAS-CHAPULA, 
1998; VANTI, 2002). Scientometric have been used 

to diagnose trends in scientific literature on, for 
instance, ecology (PINTO et al., 2003; BINI et al., 
2005; FAZEY et al., 2005; MELO et al., 2006), 
global climate change (STANHILL, 2001; 
NABOUT et al., 2012), groups of organisms 
(CARNEIRO et al., 2008; PADIAL et al., 2008; 
NABOUT et al., 2010), genetics (QUIXABEIRA et 
al., 2010) bioproducts (e.g. Biodiesel; FERREIRA 
et al., 2014). 

The present study assessed research on Chl-
a over a 21-year period (1990-2011), with the 
intention of answering the following questions: i) 
What is the temporal trend in the number of studies 
on Chl-a? ii) Studies on Chl-a are carried out on 
what scales, which journals and in which 
environments? iv) In which countries and regions 
are these studies performed? v) What factors 
determine the scientific production of countries 
where publications on Chl-a appear? In the other 
word determine the influence of Gross Domestic 
Product (GPD), Human Development Index (HDI), 
demographic density, water availability and 
consumption of fertilizers, in scientific production 
of nations. 

All the information systematized how is the 
use of variable Chl-a makes it feasible to analyze 
the results of this work as a step prior study 
involving the same from the perspective of having 
jobs that seek to supply necessary research that have 
not been investigated with referent study variable. 

 

Received: 10/09/13 
Accepted: 10/10/14 



942 
The state of global scientific…  MARCIONILIO, S. M. L. O. et al. 

Biosci. J., Uberlândia, v. 31, n. 3, p. 941-950, May/June. 2015 

MATERIAL AND METHODS  
 
Sampling and quantification of scientific 
literature 

The literature utilized in this study was 
obtained from the Scopus database 
(www.scopus.com), accessed in March 2012. We 
used the search terms "Chlorophyll a" OR "Chl-a" 
OR "Chlorophyll-a" OR "Chl a" in the titles of 
papers that appeared from 1990 through 2011. For 
each article we determined i) the year of study; ii) 
the journal; iii) the geographic scale (local, regional, 
continental or global); iv) the approach used 
(theoretical, experimental or descriptive); v) the 
region or country of the study and the country of the 
first author (nationality); vi) the type of environment 
(terrestrial, marine or continental). 

With respect to the approach (item IV), the 
term “experimental” was used for articles that used 
a Chl-a variable to develop laboratory techniques 
such as synthesis reactions, reaction kinetics, and 
characterization of the physicochemical properties 
of Chl-a, among others. Theoretical studies, in 
general, included revisions. Finally, descriptive 
studies were considered as those involving field 
research and/or quantification of Chl-a in the 
laboratory.  

 
Data analysis  

The temporal trends of number of papers 
were investigated using a Pearson correlation 
(P<0.05) to relate the number of articles to the year 
when they were published. To investigate the 
determining factors for the scientific production of 
countries (i.e., numbers of papers by country where 
the study took place) several models were 
constructed. These models were compared using the 
Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) (BURNHAM; 
ANDERSON, 2002), in which the best model was 
the one that gave the lowest value of AIC. These 
analyses included specific countries only; papers 
that merely indicated the study region, such as 
Africa or the Atlantic Ocean, were not included in 
the analyses. 

In the models, the number of papers for 
countries was regressed as a function of five 
explanatory variables: Gross Domestic Product 
(GDP, in dollars, obtained from the International 
Monetary Fund for the year 2011), Human 
Development Index (HDI, obtained on the website 
of the United Nations Development program - 
UNDP, for the year 2011), demographic density 

(inhab/km2), water availability (m3) and fertilizer 
consumption (hundreds of mg ha-1; UNDP website, 
accessed in September 2012). Using this set of 
variables, 31 different models were generated and 
then compared according to the selection criteria of 
AIC models.  

The importance of these factors is 
summarized in the fact that scientific research is a 
reflection of socioeconomic and environmental 
factors, but tested whether these studies reflect the 
Chl-a in different countries through the analysis of 
the regression model. It is expected that countries 
with greater water availability, fertilizer 
consumption and GDP may be those who develop 
more work on this variable. The analysis was 
performed using the software SAM 4.0 (RANGEL 
et al., 2010). 

 
RESULTS 

 
Between 1990 and 2011, 2175 articles 

appeared that refer to studies on Chl-a. The number 
of articles on this subject has increased significantly 
along the period of the study (r=0.84 and P<0.001) 
(Figure 1). We found 160 journals that published 
articles on Chl-a. Of these, only 20 journals 
published 44.01% of the total (Figure 2). We 
classified 2031 papers as descriptive, experimental 
or theoretical. Most studies were descriptive (1144 
papers, or 53% of the total articles studies), 
followed by experimental (703 papers, 32.6%) and 
theoretical studies (184 papers, 8.5%). Some paper 
were not classified, according type of studied 
(descriptive, experimental and theoretical) (5.9%). 
Regarding geographic scale, 51.6% of publications 
on Chl-a were regional, 37.8% local, and 10.5% 
continental or global. We classified 1431 papers as 
the type of environment studied (terrestrial, marine 
or continental). The marine environment was more 
studied, with 37.8% of the papers (540 papers); 
while continental waters represented 25.7 % (369), 
and terrestrial environments 36.5% (522). 

Regarding the nationality of the first 
authors, most publications were from the United 
States of America (USA) with 19.52% (421 papers), 
followed by China with 13.86% (299) and Japan 
with 11.21% (242). However, considering the area 
of study, the largest number of studies were 
conducted in China with 8.22% (179), followed by 
the USA with 3.72% (81) and Japan with 1.88% 
(41) (Figure 3). 



943 
The state of global scientific…  MARCIONILIO, S. M. L. O. et al. 

Biosci. J., Uberlândia, v. 31, n. 3, p. 941-950, May/June. 2015 

 
Figure 1. Temporal trend in the number of articles published per year in the period 1990 to 2011. 

B
B

A
-B

IO
E

N
E

R
G

E
T

IC
S

P
 S

O
C

 P
H

O
T

O
-O

P
T

 I
N

S
T

P
H

O
T

O
S

Y
N

T
H

 R
E

S

P
H

O
T

O
S

Y
N

T
H

E
T

IC
A

IN
T

 J
 R

E
M

O
T

E
 S

E
N

S

H
Y

D
R

O
B

IO
L

O
G

IA

P
L

A
N

T
 P

H
Y

S
IO

L

R
E

M
O

T
E

 S
E

N
S

 E
N

V
IR

O
N

P
H

O
T

O
C

H
E

M
 P

H
O

T
O

B
IO

L

P
L

A
N

T
 C

E
L

L
 P

H
Y

S
IO

L

M
A

R
 E

C
O

L
-P

R
O

G
 S

E
R

B
IO

C
H

E
M

IS
T

R
Y

-U
S

C
O

N
T

 S
H

E
L

F
 R

E
S

J 
P

H
Y

S
 C

H
E

M
 B

J 
B

IO
L

 C
H

E
M

J 
P

L
A

N
K

T
O

N
 R

E
S

P
L

A
N

T
 M

O
L

 B
IO

L

J
O

U
R

N
A

L
 O

F
  
O

C
E

A
N

O
G

R
A

P
H

Y

C
H

E
M

 P
H

Y
S

 L
E

T
T

IG
A

R
S

S

Journals

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

N
u
m

b
er

 o
f 

p
ap

er
s

 
Figure 2. The principal journals where publications on chlorophyll-a have appeared. 
 

C
h
in

a

U
S

A

J
a
p
a
n

O
c
.P

a
c
if
ic

o

E
u
ro

p
e

O
c
.A

tl
â
n
ti
c
o

S
p
a
in

A
n
ta

rc
ti
c
a

B
ra

z
il

C
a
n
a
d
a

in
d
ia

M
a
r 

M
e
d
it
e
rr

a
n
e

o

A
u
s
tr

a
li
a

M
e
x
ic

o

T
u
rk

e
y

P
o
la

n
d

F
in

la
n

d

G
e
rm

a
n
y

O
c
.I
n
d
ic

o

U
k
ra

in
e

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

N
u
m

b
e
r 

o
f 
s
tu

d
ie

s

 
Figure 3. Countries or regions where studies were performed on chlorophyll-a. 

 
Five of the AIC models were classified as 

top models (AIC<2). In these models, all variables 
were present. The best model was composed 
exclusively by GDP and explained 66% of the 
variation in countries where publications appeared 
(Table 1). The GPD was present in all top models 

and presented positive relation with the number of 
papers published by different countries (Table 2); in 
other words, countries with a larger number of 
publications on within-country study areas were 
those with the higher GDPs, supporting the 
hypotheses suggested here. Another supporting 



944 
The state of global scientific…  MARCIONILIO, S. M. L. O. et al. 

Biosci. J., Uberlândia, v. 31, n. 3, p. 941-950, May/June. 2015 

variable was water availability, i.e., countries with 
more publications are those with more water 
availability (Table 2). In contrast, the scientific 

production by country was negatively related to 
demographic density, fertilizer consumption and 
HDI.  

 
Table 1. Results of the 31 models generated to identify the socio-economic factor that best explains the study 

region with chlorophyll-a. The variables are population density (inhabitants / km 2) (D); GPD 
(millions of dollars), water availability (W); fertilizer consumption (F), HDI. 
Variables R2 AIC Delta AIC 

GPD 0.662 10.537 0 
GPD, HDI 0.669 11.813 1.275 

GPD, F 0.667 12.129 1.592 
D, GPD 0.666 12.206 1.668 
GPD, W 0.666 12.241 1.703 

D, GPD, HDI 0.677 12.933 2.396 
GPD, W, HDI 0.676 12.975 2.437 

GPD, W, F 0.672 13.775 3.237 
D, GPD, F 0.67 13.979 3.442 

GPD, F, HDI 0.67 14.083 3.546 
D, GPD, W 0.668 14.411 3.873 

D, GPD, W, HDI 0.68 14.945 4.407 
GPD, W, F, HDI 0.677 15.387 4.849 
D, GPD, F, HDI 0.677 15.453 4.916 
D, GPD, W, F 0.673 16.152 5.615 

D, GPD, W, F, HDI 0.68 17.562 7.024 
HDI 0.104 63.213 52.676 

D, HDI 0.109 65.23 54.693 
W, HDI 0.106 65.42 54.882 
F, HDI 0.104 65.548 55.01 

F 0.035 67.213 56.675 
D, W, F 0.116 67.233 56.696 

D, F, HDI 0.109 67.653 57.116 
W, F, HDI 0.106 67.85 57.312 

W 0.018 68.166 57.629 
W, F 0.048 68.832 58.294 

D <.001 69.136 58.599 
D, F 0.035 69.546 59.009 

D, W, F, HDI 0.117 69.751 59.213 
D, W 0.024 70.162 59.624 

D, W, F 0.05 71.119 60.581 
 
Table 2. Selected models showing each variable used, the importance, the standardized regression coefficient 

considering all models, and the standardized regression coefficient considering only the best model. 
The variables are population density (inhabitants / km2) (D); GDP (millions of US dollars), water 
availability (W), fertilizer consumption (F) and HDI. 

Variable Importance Coefficient 
D 0.29 -0.05 

GPD 1 0.47 
W 0.301 0.029 
F 0.28 -0.035 

HDI 0.358 -0.27 



945 
The state of global scientific…  MARCIONILIO, S. M. L. O. et al. 

Biosci. J., Uberlândia, v. 31, n. 3, p. 941-950, May/June. 2015 

DISCUSSION 
 
Studies with Chl-a showed a growing over 

the years analyzed in the study, and this variable 
indicative of living in aquatic and terrestrial 
environments. The search domain knowledge in 
diverse habitats makes it necessary mastery of 
certain indicator variables immediately Chl-a is used 
as an indicator of biomass aquatics, vegetation. 

These works were published mostly by 
multidisciplinary journals demonstrating that 
research with this variable are used in a 
multidisciplinary approach for the Chl-a is subject 
to various changes in the environment. Another 
important aspect of this study is that of Chl-a to be 
used as the main variable in research descriptive of 
the place are mostly regional and marine 
environments. Leading the way screening study 
concerning Chl-a as a variable of study. 

This survey of the state of knowledge about 
Chl-a allowed us to ordinate the groups of 
information and results, to provide an overall view 
of investigations on this subject. Assessments of the 
state of development of a certain area may help to 
improve and develop new postulates, concepts and 
paradigms. Our results showed that over 21 years, 
the number of publications on Chl-a has continued 
to grow, a pattern also found in other scientometric 
studies, for instance on phytoplankton (CARNEIRO 
et al., 2008), macrophytes (PADIAL et al., 2008), 
population ecology (LIMA-RIBEIRO et al., 2007), 
genetic studies using flow cytometry 
(QUIXABEIRA et al., 2010), niche models used in 
invasive species (BARBOSA et al., 2012) and 
global climate change  (NABOUT et al., 2012). 

This increase in the number of publications 
on Chl-a can be related to the use of 
microorganisms in the search for field techniques in 
biotechnology (SHEEHAN et al., 1998; 
GROBBELAAR, 2010), laboratory research and the 
reaction kinetics (PRUZINKÁ et al., 2003; WANG 
et al., 2011), evaluation of the physicochemical 
properties of Chl-a under various treatment 
conditions (MAXWELL et al., 2003 ; 
CARBONERA et al., 2012; FERNANDEZ-
JARAMILLO et al., 2012), its use in medicine 
(BRITTON, 1995; SCHOEFS, 2002), concern for 
sustainable use of the environment where this is a 
tracking variable (THOMAS et al., 2001; 
AFFONSO et al., 2011; LUGOLI et al., 2012), and 
also characterization of Chl-a optical properties for 
use in hyperspectral optical sensors of satellites, 
which facilitate gathering data on photosynthesis on 
temporal and spatial scales (NOVOA et al., 2011; 
GURLIN et al., 2011). 

Studies on Chl-a are mostly descriptive 
(53%), as this variable provides an indirect 
measurement of phytoplankton biomass, the NDVI 
(Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) of a 
vegetated area, and water-quality parameters in 
limnology. All these studies are empirical in nature, 
where performing field research is essential 
(WANG et al., 2003; GARMENDIA et al., 2011). 
In many areas of science, a high proportion of the 
papers are descriptive (LIMA-RIBEIRO et al., 
2007; CARNEIRO et al., 2008), especially in areas 
with a well-defined body of theory that has been 
advanced in the development of new techniques, as 
is the case for Chl-a.  

More part of chl-a studies were developed 
in the marine environment. Several marine studies 
use Chl-a to estimate the phytoplankton biomass 
(e.g. GOWER; KING, 2008). Estimates of marine 
phytoplankton biomass have many applications, 
including aquaculture management (WILD-ALLEN 
et al., 2011), monitoring using satellite imagery 
(NOVOA et al., 2011; GURLIN et al., 2011) and 
forecasting algal blooms (SHEN et al., 2012). Chl-a 
is also a useful explanatory variable in continental 
waters, where it is used as a parameter for 
monitoring, quantification of photosynthetic species, 
quality assessment, and detection of water pollution.  

Authors from the USA contributed most 
papers. The predominance of authors from this 
country has been reported in several studies 
(FAZEY et al., 2005; CARNEIRO et al., 2008; 
NABOUT et al., 2010). Part of the reason for this 
must be the greater investment in infrastructure and 
research (MUGNAINI et al., 2004; JAPPE, 2007). 
However, a high proportion of studies on Chl-a have 
been conducted in China. These results indicate a 
partnership between countries (for example China 
and the USA), where although most articles are by 
authors from the USA, the studies were conducted 
in China, or possibly American authors worked in 
China along with Chinese authors. Despite the 
importance of partnerships for increasing scientific 
output, this study showed that the GDP is the main 
variable that explained the variations in the country 
of the study, since this indicator expresses the sum 
of the wealth generated by all the various sectors. 
These sectors in turn are motivated by technological 
development and are based on scientific 
development. Other studies have shown a similar 
positive relationship between the two variables 
(GDP and number of papers), e.g., that of Nabout et 
al. (2010) on the global literature on fiddler crabs 
(genus Uca). 

Finally, the present study traced the state of 
knowledge on Chl-a on a global scale. In spite of the 



946 
The state of global scientific…  MARCIONILIO, S. M. L. O. et al. 

Biosci. J., Uberlândia, v. 31, n. 3, p. 941-950, May/June. 2015 

increasing number of articles, several research areas 
and geographical regions remain relatively 
unexplored, such as experimental studies and 
studies in continental aquatic environments. Studies 
in freshwater ecosystems aid in determining the 
quality and multi-use availability of a water body. 
Experimental studies are important to assess the 
importance of Chl-a in specific conditions, such as 
global climate change (BICUDO; BICUDO, 2008; 
KALAJI et al., 2011). Because of the importance of 
this environmental variable, we recommend studies 
on the impact of global climate change on Chl-a, 
because of the relative paucity of studies on climate 
change in aquatic environments (NABOUT et al., 
2012). 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 
This work was developed with funds from 

CNPq/MCT/CAPES and FAPEG (project # 
563834/2010-2) and FAPEG (process 
201210267001071) partially supported by CAPES 
(Auxpe 2036/2013). SMLOM received scholarships 
by FAPEG and SEDUC, MTRA received 
scholarships by CAPES, PPB and KBM received 
scholarships by CNPq (2012) and CAPES (2013-
2014). CSTA and HFC were supported by 
University Research and Scientific Production 
Support Program (PROBIP/UEG). JCN was 
supported by CNPq productivity fellowships. 

 
 
RESUMO: A clorofila é um pigmento verde, comum em todas as células fotossintéticas de organismos 

autotróficos, de ambientes aquáticos ou terrestres. As técnicas mais utilizadas para quantificar esse pigmento são a 
fluorescência, a espectrofotometria de UV, a cromatografia HPLC e o uso de sensores remotos. Assim, a determinação do 
pigmento fotossintético chlorofila-a (Chl-a), tem sido utilizada amplamente em diversas áreas da ciência. Portanto, o 
objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar o estado da arte da literatura científica para o pigmento fotossintetizante clorofila-a, 
determinando os países de estudo, os fatores socioeconômicos- ambiental que estão ligados ao estudo de clorofila –a, 
abordagens utilizadas, e ainda, os ambientes estudados, a escala geográfica e as revistas. Para obter tais informações 
realizou-se um estudo cienciométrico, a partir da base de dados Scopus, numa escala temporal de 21 anos (entre 1990 e 
2011). Os padrões encontrados para as pesquisas com Chl-a são o aumento temporal de publicações (r=0.84 and P< 
0.001), a diversidade de revistas que publicaram estudos sobre o assunto (160 revistas), maior número de publicações com 
caráter multidisciplinar, predomínio de estudos com abordagens descritivas realizados em ambientes aquáticos e marinhos 
e estudos em escala geográfica regional. A China foi o país mais estudado com 21,64% do total de artigos publicados, e os 
estadunidenses lideraram com o maior número de publicações sobre este assunto (19,52% do total de artigos publicados). 
Utilizando o critério de seleção de modelos de Akaike observou-se que as publicações são impulsionadas pelo fator 
socioeconômico PIB. Este estudo demonstrou o uso multidisciplinar da Chl-a e pode indicar algumas direções para novos 
estudos com esse pigmento. 
 

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Pigmento Fotossintetizante. Cienciometria. Água. Biomassa Fitoplanctônica. 
 
 
REFERENCES 
 
AFFONSO, A. G., QUEIROZ, H. L.; NOVO, E. M. L. M. Limnological characterization of floodplain lakes in 
Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, Central Amazon (Amazonas State, Brazil). Acta Limnologica 
Brasiliensia, Rio Claro, v. 23, n. 1, p. 95-108, 2011. 
 
BARBOSA, F. G.; SCHNECK, F.; MELO, A. S. Use of ecological niche models to predict the distribution of 
invasive species: a scientometric analysis. Brazilian Journal of Biology, São Carlos, v. 72, p. 821-829, 2012. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842012000500007 
 
BICUDO, C. E. M.; BICUDO, D. Mudanças Climáticas Globais: Efeitos sobre as Águas Continentais 
Superficiais. In: Biologia & Mudanças Climáticas no Brasil. M. S. Buckeridge (org.) Rima Editora. São 
Carlos:2008. p. 151-165. 
 
BINI, L. M.; DINIZ-FILHO, J. A. F.; CARVALHO, P.; PINTO, M. P.; RANGEL, T. F. L. V. B. Lomborg and 
the litany of biodiversity crisis: what the peer review literature says. Conservation Biology,  Germantown, v. 
20, p. 1–6, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00155.x 
 



947 
The state of global scientific…  MARCIONILIO, S. M. L. O. et al. 

Biosci. J., Uberlândia, v. 31, n. 3, p. 941-950, May/June. 2015 

BJORN, L. O.; PAPAGEORGIOU, G. C.; BLANKENSHIP, R.; GOVINDJEE. A viewpoint: why chlorophyll 
a? Photosynthesis Research, Netherlands, v. 99, p. 85–98, 2009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11120-008-9395-x 
 
BRITTON, G. UV Visible spectroscopy. In: BRITTON, G. et al. (Eds). Carotenoids, spectroscopy. 
Switzerland: Birkhauser, Basel, 1995. p. 13-62. 
 
BURNHAM, K. P.; ANDERSON, D. R. Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information 
theoretic approach. New York: Springer. 2002.488p. 
 
CARBONERA, D.; GEROTTO, C.; POSOCCO, B.; GIACOMETTI, G. M.; MOROSINOTTO, T. NPQ 
Activation reduces chlorophyll triplet state formation in the moss Physcomitrella patens. Biochimica et 
Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics, Cambrige, v. 1817, p. 1608-1615,2012. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbabio.2012.05.007 
 
CARNEIRO, F. M.; NABOUT, J. C.; BINI, L. M. Trends in the scientific literature on phytoplankton. 
Limnology, Japan, v. 9, p. 153–158, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10201-008-0242-8 
  
FAZEY, I.; FISCHER, J.; LINDENMAYER, D.B. What do conservation biologists publish? Biological 
Conservation, Washigton, v. 124, n. 1, p. 63–73, 2005. 
 
FERREIRA, R. B.; BORGES NETO, A. C.; NABOUT, J. C.; JESUS, F. F.; CAETANO, J. M.; TEIXEIRA, I. 
R. Tendências na literatura científica global sobre o Biodiesel: uma análise cienciométrica. Bioscience Journal 
(UFU. Impresso), Uberlândia, v. 30, p. 547-554, 2014. 
 
FERNANDEZ-JARAMILLO, A. A.; DUARTE-GALVAN, C.; CONTRERAS-MEDINA, L. M.; TORRES-
PACHECO, I.; ROMERO-TRONCOSO, R. J.; GUEVARA-GONZALEZ, R. G.; MILLAN-ALMARAZ, J. R. 
Instrumentation in Developing Chlorophyll Fluorescence Biosensing: A review. Sensors, Switzerland, v. 12, p. 
11853-11869, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s120911853 
 
FMI. Fundo Monetário Internacional. Disponível em http: <//www.imf.org.com>. Acesso em: 8 setembro de 
2012. 
 
GARMENDIA, M.; REVILLA, M.; BALD, J.; FRANCO, J.; MARTINEZ, A. L.; ORIVE, S. S.; VALENCIA, 
V.; BORJA, A. Phytoplankton communities and biomass size structure (fractionated chlorophyll “a”), along 
trophic gradients of the Basque coast (northern Spain). Biogeochemistry, Netherlands, v. 106, p. 243-263, 
2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10533-010-9445-2 
 
GOWER, J.; KING, S. Global monitoring of plankton blooms using MERIS MCI. International Journal of 
Remote Sensing, Terre Haute, v. 29, p. 6209–6216, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01431160802178110 
 
GROBBELAAR, J. U. Microalgal biomass production: challenges and realities. Photosynthesis Research, 
Nerthelands , v. 106, p. 135-144, 2010. 
 
GURLIN, D.; GITELSON, A. A.; MOSES, W. J. Remote estimation of chl-a concentration in turbid 
productive waters - Return to a simple two-band NIR-red model? Remote Sensing of Environment, Flórida, 
v. 115, p. 3479-3490, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2011.08.011 
 
HAWES, I.; LUND-HANSEN, L. C.; SORREL, B. K.; NIELSEN, M. H.; BORZÁK, R.; BUSS, I. 
Photobiology of sea ice algae during initial spring growth in Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland: insights from 
imaging variable chlorophyll fluorescence of ice cores. Photosynthesis Research, Nerthelands,v. 112, n. 2, p. 
103-115, 2012. 
 
HUO, S.; ZAN, F.; CHEN, Q.; XI, B.; SU, J.; JI, D.; XU, Q. Determining reference conditions for nutrients, 
chlorophyll a and Secchi depth in Yungui Plateau ecoregion lakes, China. Water and Environment Journal, 
Reino Unido v. 26, p. 324–334, 2012. 



948 
The state of global scientific…  MARCIONILIO, S. M. L. O. et al. 

Biosci. J., Uberlândia, v. 31, n. 3, p. 941-950, May/June. 2015 

JAPPE, A. Explaining international collaboration in global environmental change research. Scientometrics, 
Netherlands, v. 71, n. 3, p. 367–390, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-007-1676-1 
 
KALAJI, H. M.; BOSA, K.; KOSCIELNIAK, J.; HOSSAIN, Z.  Chlorophyll a Fluorescence . A Useful Tool 
for the Early Detection of Temperature Stress in Spring Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). OMICS: A Journal of 
Integrative Biology, New Rochelle, v. 15, p. 925-934, 2011. 
 
KOZIOL, A. G.; BORZA, T.; ISHIDA, K. I.; KEELING, P.; LEE, R. W.; DURNFORD, D. G. Tracing the 
evolution of the light-harvesting antennae in chlorophyll a/b-containing organisms. Plant Physiology, 
Rockville, v. 143, p. 1802-1816, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1104/pp.106.092536 
 
KRAUSE, G. H.; WINTER, K. B.; JAHNS, P.; GARCIA, M.; ARANDA, J.; VIRGO, A. High-temperature 
tolerance of a tropical tree, Ficus insipida: methodological reassessment and climate change considerations. 
Functional Plant Biology, Austrália, v. 3, p. 890–900, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/FP10034 
 
LIMA-RIBEIRO, M. S.; NABOUT, J. C.; PINTO, M. P.; MOURA, I. O; MELO, T. L; COSTA, S. S.; 
RANGEL, T. L. V. V. B. Análise cienciométrica em ecologia de populações: importância e tendências dos 
últimos 60 anos. Acta Scientiarum: Biological Sciences, Maringá, v. 29, p. 39-47, 2007. 
 
LLOYD, S. W.; TUCKER, C. S. Comparison of Three Solvent Systems for Extraction of Chlorophyll a from 
Fish Pond Phytoplankton Communities. Journal of the world aquaculture society, Baton Rouge, v. 19, p. 36-
40, 1988. 
 
LUGOLI, F.; GARMENDIA, M.; LEHTINEN,S.; KAUPPILA, P.; MONCHEVA, S.; REVILLA, M.;  
ROSELLI, L.; SLABAKOVA, N.; VALENCIA,V.; DROMPH, K.M.; BASSET, A. Application of a new 
multi-metric phytoplankton index to the assessment of ecological status in marine and transitional waters. 
Ecological Indicators, Netherlands, v. 23, p. 338-355, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.03.030 
 
MACIAS-CHAPULA, C. A. O papel da informetria e da cienciometria e sua perspectiva nacional e 
internacional. Ciência da Informação, Brasília, v. 27, n. 2, p. 134-140, 1998. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-
19651998000200005 
 
MAXWELL, B. B.; ANDERSON, C. R.; POOLE, D. S.; KAY, S. A.; CHORY, J. HY5, Circadian Clock-
Associated 1, and a cis-Element, DET1 Dark Response Element, Mediate DET1 Regulation of Chlorophyll a/b-
Binding Protein 2 Expression. Plant physiology, Rockville, v. 133, p. 1565-1577, 2003. 
 
MELO, A. S.; BINI, L. M.; CARVALHO, P. Brazilian articles in international journals on Limnology. 
Scientometrics, Netherlands, v. 67, n. 2, p. 187– 199, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-006-0093-1 
 
MUGNAINI, R.; JANUZZI, P. M.; QUONIAM, L. Indicadores bibliométricos da produção científica 
brasileira: uma análise a partir da base Pascal. Ciência da Informação, Brasília, v. 33, n. 2, p. 123-131, 2004. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-19652004000200013 
 
NABOUT, J. C.; BINI, L. M.; DINIZ-FILHO, J. A. F. Global literature of fiddler crabs, genus Uca (Decapoda, 
Ocypodidae): trends and future directions. Iheringia. Série Zoologia , Porto Alegre, v. 100, p. 463-468, 2010. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0073-47212010000400019 
 
NABOUT, J. C.; CARVALHO, P.; PRADO, M. U.; BORGES, P. P.; MACHADO, K. B.; HADDAD, K. B.; 
MICHELAN, T. S.; CUNHA, H. F.; SOARES, T. N. Trends and Biases in Global Climate Change Literature. 
Natureza & Conservação, Goiânia, v. 10, p. 45-51, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.4322/natcon.2012.008 
 
NOVOA, S.; CHUST, G.; VALENCIA, V.; FROIDEFOND, J. M.; MORICHON, D. Estimation of 
chlorophyll-a concentration in watersover the continental shelf of the Bay of Biscay: 
acomparison of remote sensing algorithms. International Journal of Remote Sensing, Terre Haute, v. 32, p. 
8349-8371, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2010.540588 



949 
The state of global scientific…  MARCIONILIO, S. M. L. O. et al. 

Biosci. J., Uberlândia, v. 31, n. 3, p. 941-950, May/June. 2015 

PADIAL, A. A.; BINI, L. M.; THOMAZ, S. M. The study of aquatic macrophytes in Neotropics: a 
scientometrical view of the main trends and gaps. Brazilian Journal of Biology, São Carlos v. 68, p. 1051-
1059, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842008000500012 
 
PELLETIER, P. J.; CAVENTOU, J. B. Sur la matiere verte des feuilles. Annales de chimie et de physique, 
Paris, v. 9, p. 194-196, 1818. 
 
PEREZ, E. B.; PINA, I. C.; RODRIGUEZ, L. P. Kinetic model for growth of Phaeodactylum tricornutum in 
intensive culture photobioreactor. Biochemical Engineering Journal, Illinois,v. 40, n. 3, p. 520-525, 2008. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2008.02.007 
 
PINTO, M. P.; BINI, L. M.; DINIZ-FILHO J. A. F. Quantitative analysis of  the influence of a new ecological 
paradigm: spatial autocorrelation (Análise quantitativa da influência de um novo paradigma ecológico: 
autocorrelação espacial). Acta Scientiarum: Biological Sciences, Maringá, v. 25, n. 1, p. 137-143, 2003. 
 
PNUD. Atlas do Desenvolvimento Humano no Brasil. Disponível em: <http://www.pnud. org.br/ atlas/>.  
Acesso em: 5 de setembro de 2012. 
 
PRUZINSKA, A.; TANNER, G.; ANDERS, I.; ROCA, M.; HORTENSTEINER, S. Chlorophyll breakdown: 
Pheophorbide a oxygenase is a rieke-type iron- sulfur protein, encoded by the accelerated cell death l gene. 
Plant Biology, Netherlands, v. 100, n. 25, p. 123-128, 2003. 
 
QUIXABEIRA, V. B. L.; NABOUT, J. C.; RODRIGUES, F. M. Trends in genetic literature with the use of 
flow cytometry. Cytometry Part A, Malden, v. 77 a, p. 207-210, 2010. 
 
RANGEL, T. F. L. V. B.; DINIZ, J. A. F.; BINI, L. M. SAM: a comprehensive application for Spatial Analysis 
in Macroecology. Ecography, Sweden, v. 31, p. 46-50, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-
0587.2009.06299.x 
 
RIANO, B.; HERNANDEZ, D.; GARCIA-GONZALEZ, M. Microalgal-based systems for wastewater 
treatment: Effect of applied organic and nutrient loading rate on biomass composition. Ecological 
Engineering, Flórida, v. 49, p. 112–117, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2012.08.021 
 
SCHOEFS, B. Chlorophyll and carotenoid analysis in food products. Properties of the pigments and methods of 
analysis. Trends in Food Science & Technology, Wageningen, v. l3, p. 361-371, 2002. 
 
SHEEHAN, J.; DUNAHAY, T.; BENEMANN, J.; ROESSLER, P. A Look Back at the US Department of 
Energy’s Aquatic Species Program: biodiesel from algae. US Department of Energy’s, Office of Fuels 
development. NREL/TP-580-24190., Colorado,1998. 328 p. 
 
SHEN, L.; HUIPING, X.; GUO, X. Satellite Remote Sensing of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and a Potential 
Synthesized Framework. Sensors, Switzerland, v. 12, p. 7778-7803, 2012. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s120607778 
 
SKJANES, K.; LINDBLAD, P.; MULLER, J. BiOCO2 - A multidisciplinary, biological approach using solar 
energy to capture CO2 while producing H-2 and high value products. Biomolecular Engineering,  Poland, v. 
24, p. 405-413, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bioeng.2007.06.002 
 
STANHILL G. The growth of climate change science: a scientometric study. Climatic Change, Netherlands, 
v. 48, p. 515-524, 2001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1010721600896 
 
SUBASHCHANDRABOSE, SR., RAMAKRISHNAN, B., MEGHARAJ, M., VENKATESWARLU, K.; 
NAIDU, R. Consortia of cyanobacteria/microalgae and bacteria: Biotechnological potential. Biotechnology 
Advances, Israel, v. 29, p. 896-907, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2011.07.009 
 



950 
The state of global scientific…  MARCIONILIO, S. M. L. O. et al. 

Biosci. J., Uberlândia, v. 31, n. 3, p. 941-950, May/June. 2015 

THOMAS, H.; OUGHAM, H.; HORTENSTEINER, S. Recent advances in the cell biology of chlorophyll 
catabolism. Advances in Botanical Research, France, v. 35, p. 1-52, 2001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0065-
2296(01)35003-6 
 
VANTI, N. A. P. Da bibliometria à webometria: uma exploração conceitual dos mecanismos utilizados para 
medir o registro da informação e a difusão do conhecimento. Ciência da Informação, Brasília, v. 31, n. 2, p. 
152–162, 2002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-19652002000200016 
 
WANG, J. J.; LI, J. Z.; LI, F. G. The region selective Synthesis of bromochlorins related to chlorophyll-a from 
methyl pheophorbide-a. Journal of the Iranian Chemical Society, Germany, v. 8, n. 4, p. 1139-1145, 2011. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF03246572 
 
WANG, Z. X.; LIU, C.; HUETE, A. From AVHRR-NDVI to MODIS-EVI: advances in vegetation index 
research. Acta Ecologica Sinica, China, v. 23, n. 5,p. 979-988,2003. 
 
WETZEL, R. G. Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems. Academic Press, San Diego.2001, 1006 p. 
 
WILD-ALLEN, K.; THOMPSON, P. A.; VOLKMAN, J. K.; PARSLOW, J. Use of a coastal biogeochemical 
model to select environmental monitoring. Journal of Marine Systems, Germany, v. 88, p. 120-127, 2011. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2011.02.017 
 
ZHANG , M. P.; ZHANG, C. J.; YU, G. H.; JIANG, Y. Z.; STRASSER, R. J.; YUAN, Z. Y.;YANG, X. S.; 
CHEN, G. X. Changes in chloroplast ultrastructure, fatty acid components of thylakoid membrane and 
chlorophyll a fluorescence transient in flag leaves of a super-high-yield hybrid rice and its parents during the 
reproductive stage. Journal Plant physiology, Ontário, v. 167, p. 277-285, 2010.