Nicola Stevens

3.9k total citations · 2 hit papers
43 papers, 2.2k citations indexed

About

Nicola Stevens is a scholar working on Nature and Landscape Conservation, Global and Planetary Change and Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics. According to data from OpenAlex, Nicola Stevens has authored 43 papers receiving a total of 2.2k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 27 papers in Nature and Landscape Conservation, 22 papers in Global and Planetary Change and 12 papers in Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics. Recurrent topics in Nicola Stevens's work include Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies (25 papers), Fire effects on ecosystems (11 papers) and Plant and animal studies (9 papers). Nicola Stevens is often cited by papers focused on Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies (25 papers), Fire effects on ecosystems (11 papers) and Plant and animal studies (9 papers). Nicola Stevens collaborates with scholars based in South Africa, United Kingdom and United States. Nicola Stevens's co-authors include Caroline E. R. Lehmann, William J. Bond, Brett P. Murphy, Giselda Durigan, Guy F. Midgley, Robert Buitenwerf, W.S.W. Trollope, Sally Archibald, Barend Erasmus and Mariska te Beest and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science and Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

In The Last Decade

Nicola Stevens

40 papers receiving 2.2k citations

Hit Papers

align trajectories

What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

Savanna woody encroachment is widespread across three continents

2016 486 citations Nicola Stevens, Caroline E. R. Lehmann et al. Global Change Biology profile →
Conflation of reforestation with restoration is widespread

2024 53 citations Nicola Stevens et al. Science profile →

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name	h						Papers	Cites
Nicola Stevens South Africa	18	1.2k	1.1k	753	289	256	43	2.2k
Jean‐François Bastin Belgium	17	1.5k 1.2×	639 0.6×	701 0.9×	171 0.6×	194 0.8×	39	2.5k
Zak Ratajczak United States	21	1.4k 1.1×	1.0k 0.9×	1.1k 1.4×	177 0.6×	228 0.9×	38	2.3k
Britta Tietjen Germany	26	1.1k 0.9×	616 0.6×	616 0.8×	344 1.2×	385 1.5×	73	2.0k
Joseph W. Veldman United States	19	1.2k 1.0×	1.2k 1.1×	700 0.9×	214 0.7×	399 1.6×	28	2.0k
Lauren T. Bennett Australia	33	1.7k 1.4×	1.2k 1.1×	990 1.3×	216 0.7×	205 0.8×	90	2.7k
Anthony R. Palmer South Africa	25	761 0.6×	678 0.6×	763 1.0×	295 1.0×	187 0.7×	95	1.9k
Fernando Del Bon Espírito-Santo Brazil	22	1.4k 1.1×	903 0.8×	1.1k 1.5×	156 0.5×	168 0.7×	40	2.6k
Lilian Blanc France	28	1.2k 1.0×	1.3k 1.1×	610 0.8×	134 0.5×	302 1.2×	66	2.3k
Jean‐Philippe Puyravaud India	19	1.1k 0.9×	809 0.7×	684 0.9×	226 0.8×	412 1.6×	38	2.1k
Miguel N. Bugalho Portugal	25	911 0.7×	767 0.7×	755 1.0×	141 0.5×	221 0.9×	66	2.0k

Countries citing papers authored by Nicola Stevens

Since Specialization

Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Nicola Stevens's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Nicola Stevens with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Nicola Stevens more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Nicola Stevens

Since Specialization

Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Nicola Stevens. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Nicola Stevens. The network helps show where Nicola Stevens may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Nicola Stevens

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Nicola Stevens. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Nicola Stevens based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Nicola Stevens. Nicola Stevens is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

Sort: Min cites: Since: Top N: Style:

20 of 20 papers shown

Menor, Imma Oliveras, Nicola Stevens, Robert Beyer, et al.. (2025). Energy flows reveal declining ecosystem functions by animals across Africa. Nature. 649(8095). 104–112.

Clements, Hayley S., Reinette Biggs, Alta De Vos, et al.. (2025). A place-based assessment of biodiversity intactness in sub-Saharan Africa. Nature. 649(8095). 113–121.

Gopalakrishna, Trisha, Sami W. Rifai, Jayashree Ratnam, et al.. (2024). The distribution and drivers of tree cover in savannas and forests across India. Communications Earth & Environment. 5(1). 1 indexed citations

Ottaviani, Gianluigi, et al.. (2024). Disentangling the effect of growth from development in size‐related trait scaling relationships. Plant Biology. 26(3). 485–491. 4 indexed citations

Maltitz, Graham von, et al.. (2023). Steal the rain: Interception loses and rainfall partitioning by a broad‐leaf and a fine‐leaf woody encroaching species in a southern African semi‐arid savanna. Ecology and Evolution. 13(3). e9868–e9868. 9 indexed citations

Howard, J. C., et al.. (2023). Basal bud banks are the primary determinants of survival in woody legume seedlings after clipping. South African Journal of Botany. 158. 326–333. 3 indexed citations

Stevens, Nicola & William J. Bond. (2023). A trillion trees: carbon capture or fuelling fires?. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 39(1). 1–4. 17 indexed citations

Archibald, Sally, et al.. (2021). Browsing is a strong filter for savanna tree seedlings in their first growing season. Journal of Ecology. 109(10). 3685–3698. 18 indexed citations

Stevens, Nicola, Samantha M. Wisely, Robert J. Fletcher, et al.. (2021). Landscape Heterogeneity and Woody Encroachment Decrease Mesocarnivore Scavenging in a Savanna Agroecosystem. Rangeland Ecology & Management. 78. 104–111. 4 indexed citations

10.

Criado, Mariana García, Isla H. Myers‐Smith, Anne D. Bjorkman, Caroline E. R. Lehmann, & Nicola Stevens. (2020). Woody plant encroachment intensifies under climate change across tundra and savanna biomes. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 29(5). 925–943. 137 indexed citations

11.

Ratnam, Jayashree, Margaret Awuor Owuor, Michelle Greve, et al.. (2020). Trees as nature-based solutions: a global south perspective. UpSpace Institutional Repository (University of Pretoria). 2 indexed citations

12.

Morecroft, Michael D., Simon J. Duffield, Mike Harley, et al.. (2019). Measuring the success of climate change adaptation and mitigation in terrestrial ecosystems. Science. 366(6471). 127 indexed citations

13.

Wisely, Samantha M., et al.. (2019). Land-use diversity within an agricultural landscape promotes termite nutrient cycling services in a southern African savanna. Global Ecology and Conservation. 21. e00885–e00885. 6 indexed citations

14.

Bond, William J., Nicola Stevens, Guy F. Midgley, & Caroline E. R. Lehmann. (2019). The Trouble with Trees: Afforestation Plans for Africa. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 34(11). 963–965. 203 indexed citations

15.

Osborne, Colin P., Tristan Charles‐Dominique, Nicola Stevens, et al.. (2018). Human impacts in African savannas are mediated by plant functional traits. New Phytologist. 220(1). 10–24. 116 indexed citations

16.

Stevens, Nicola, Caroline E. R. Lehmann, Brett P. Murphy, & Giselda Durigan. (2016). Savanna woody encroachment is widespread across three continents. Global Change Biology. 23(1). 235–244. 486 indexed citations breakdown →

17.

Stevens, Nicola, Barend Erasmus, Sally Archibald, & William J. Bond. (2016). Woody encroachment over 70 years in South African savannahs: overgrazing, global change or extinction aftershock?. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences. 371(1703). 20150437–20150437. 158 indexed citations

18.

Stevens, Nicola, Sally Archibald, Alecia Nickless, Anthony M. Swemmer, & Robert J. Scholes. (2015). Evidence for facultative deciduousness in Colophospermum mopane in semi‐arid African savannas. Austral Ecology. 41(1). 87–96. 14 indexed citations

19.

Stevens, Nicola, Charlotte E. Seal, Sally Archibald, & William J. Bond. (2013). Characterising the germination niche of two common savanna trees. South African Journal of Botany. 86. 143–143. 1 indexed citations

20.

Buitenwerf, Robert, William J. Bond, Nicola Stevens, & W.S.W. Trollope. (2011). Increased tree densities in South African savannas: >50 years of data suggests CO₂ as a driver. Global Change Biology. 18(2). 675–684. 282 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

Explore authors with similar magnitude of impact