Scientometrical review of Dinoflagellate studies in Brazil

ABSTRACT Scientific production in developing countries is currently increasing, but there is still an unbalanced distribution of scientific production between developed and developing countries. With the need to elucidate disparities in scientific production, this paper aims to review publications on dinoflagellates in Brazil by discussing spatial and temporal trends. A search for papers referring to dinoflagellates was performed in the Scopus database up to the year of 2016. A total of 125 papers were found, but only 106 were selected according to established criteria. A linear regression was used to evaluate the increasing temporal trend in production and non-parametric ANOVA for comparisons among study categories. Dinoflagellate and toxic taxa-based publications have increased from 1990 to 2016 for Brazil, yet a discrepancy in performance with other countries is evident. There is a constant increase in the number of functional ecology studies focusing on toxin-producing species related to blooms. The spatial distribution of production in Brazil revealed that the Southeast and South regions are the most productive, where there more graduate programs and advanced research centers. Investments in this ecological subject are fundamental to the management of biodiversity, and a call for more equal resource distribution in developing countries is imperative.