Unlocking the Positive Impact of Bio-Swales on Hydrology, Water Quality, and Biodiversity: A Bibliometric Review

Abstract

Bio-swales have gained significant attention as an effective means of stormwater management in urban areas, reducing the burden on conventional rainwater management systems. Despite this increasing interest, a comprehensive assessment of the status of bio-swale research is lacking. In response, this article employs two powerful information-visualizing software tools, the “Bibliometrix” R package and “CiteSpace”, to conduct a quantitative investigation of 323 English language sources published in the Web of Science prior to 2022. The objective is to provide a comprehensive examination of bio-swale research from multiple perspectives, shedding light on current advancements and future research trends. The findings reveal (1) a persistent annual increase in bio-swale-related publications and (2) the predominant focus on regulating services, such as hydrology, water quality, and biodiversity, with hot topics within these areas, including the influencing factors, climate, modeling, soil contaminants, and biodiversity at both macro and micro levels. Furthermore, our study concludes that future research necessitates interdisciplinary and interterritorial collaboration, a broader focus that encompasses the social, economic, ecological, and engineering aspects of bio-swales, and the adoption of diverse research methodologies. Given the currently limited research on biodiversity in bio-swales, this area holds the potential to become a future research hotspot. By harnessing the insights and findings of our study, researchers can gain a more profound understanding of the current state of bio-swale research and devise effective strategies to further propel this critical area of study.

Stormwater Quality and Long-Term Efficiency Capturing Potential Toxic Elements in Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems—Is the Soil Quality of Bio-Swales after 10–20 Years Still Acceptable?

“…Dutch bioswales can have a combination of two main goals: (1) a transportation channel for excess water and (2) infiltration retention basins. Some typical facts and figures of Dutch swales can be derived from the Dutch guidelines in Table 1, which are related to five primary factors that affect the performance of bio-swales such as the vegetation type, percentage of vegetation cover, treatment length of bio-swales, slope and soil type [14,33]. All monitored bio-swales in this study are designed after these national guidelines.…”

“…The reduction in risk is dependent on the efficiency of the bio-filtration, the stormwater quality and pollutant removal efficiencies. Filtration and sedimentation within the grass layer are the primary mechanisms of pollutant treatment [9,14], where particle-bound pollutants show the highest removal efficiency via bio-swales [6].…”

Assessing the Lifecycle Environmental Resilience of Urban Green Infrastructures Coping with Acute Disturbances and Chronic Stresses

“…According to Emre and Melek [76], the combination of 40% vegetative soil and 60% coarse sand mixture with a side slope of 1:3 presented the best performance in reducing peak overflow rates. In addition, shallow rainwater slow-permeable grassed swales created through a design miming the natural hydrological cycle protect urban ecosystems and enhance natural habitats [87].…”

A Systematic Review of the Vertical Green System for Balancing Ecology and Urbanity

“…Its primary utility lies in pinpointing and dissecting views in disciplinary research, discerning temporal flux in research hotspots, and elucidating interrelations between emergent research frontiers and foundational knowledge. Through its sophisticated visualization capabilities, it renders the architecture and morphology of disciplinary knowledge palpable [20]. Nevertheless, the comprehensive bibliometric evaluations of ecosystem services subject to green vertical systems still remain scarce.…”