Participant number 4.
Short name: UH.DES
Department of Ecology and Systematics, Division of Hydrobiology, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Principal investigator for ACCROTELM: Prof.
Atte Korhola
Brief summary of the department and its capabilities:
The University of Helsinki is the largest in Finland, with over 40,000 members when students, teachers and researchers are combined. About 40 percent of all doctoral degrees in Finland are completed here. The Environmental Change Research Unit, ECRU (http://www.helsinki.fi/science/ecru/), is an integral part of the Department of Ecology and Systematics at UH.DES, which has been nominated as a national Centre of Excellence in research and a Top Teaching Deaprtment at UH.DES.
The ECRU presently comprises a group of approximately 15 post-doctoral and postgraduate researchers with a wide spectrum of research interests and skills. The central research theme of the group is the development and application of palaeoecological, palaeolimnological and computational techniques to provide historical perspectives on ecological and environmental change. The research group has considerable experience in the study of peatland ecosystems as well as lakes and ponds with special emphasis on the reconstruction of climatic and associated environmental changes from their sedimentary deposits, using the most appropriate modelling tools. During the past few years the group has developed an international reputation for its work. The group is involved in many international and national research programmes, including participation in 5 EC projects (co-ordination of the CHILL-10,000 project), and three Nordic Council of Ministers projects, in addition to which the group has connections and contributions to many international research efforts such as the IGBP SCANTRAN initiative, IGBP PAGES PEP III programme, Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) programme, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), and Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF). The unit is also actively involved in the development of international environmental databases (e.g. the EDDI database)
For the present project the ECRU will work in close collaboration with the Department of Forest Ecology, also at UH.DES. During the past eight years the research in peatland forestry and ecology at the department has largely concentrated on ecosystems functioning and climate change interactions. The research groups of the department have worked in close co-operation with other universities and research organisations. The research project 'carbon Cycling in Peatlands and Climate Change (1991-5), part of the Finnish Research Programme on Climate Change (SILMU), was co-ordinated by the department, and the research groups in the department have been responsible for the land-use change impact studies (Northern Peatlands and Climate Change, 1996-8). International evaluation of the research of the University of Helsinki (Research Assessment Exercise 1999) reported that "the Peatland Forestry and Mire ecology section is ... an internationally recognized center of excellence".
The Departments of Ecology and Systematics and Forest Ecology are well equipped in terms of ecological, palaeoecological and computational research. Together they have an extensive range of field equipment for peat coring, sampling and mapping, and for detailed plant-ecological and carbon exchange studies as well as laboratory facilities to support the research.
Staff involved in ACCROTELM:
Prof. Atte KORHOLA
Dr Jukka LAINE
Dr Heikki SEPPÄ
Eeva-Stiina TUITTILA
Minna VALIRANTA
Role of the department within ACCROTELM:
Member of Steering Group (Korhola)
Expertise in Holocene climate variations from peat; carbon accumulation
Lead contractor for WP4 (with Partner 5)
Contribution to WPs 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10
Regional co-ordinator for Baltic mires
Site Co-ordinator for the Finnish mire