Projects/Activities

The full list of projects contains the entire database hosted on this portal, across the available directories. The projects and activities (across all directories/catalogs) are also available by country of origin, by geographical region, or by directory.

Displaying: 1 - 20 of 73 Next
1. Biological monitoring of lakes and rivers

Program collects data of fresh water phytoplankton, phytobenthos, aquatic invertebrates, fish and plants. It intends to reach sufficient data to assess biological quality of water bodies and monitor their change in time. The program is designed to answer the needs of ecological classification determined by Water Framework Directive. The program is managed by Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Regional centres for economic development, transport and the environment (ELY-centre) and Natural Resource Institute Finland. Observations are done in the monitoring of water quality network and in specially designed network for anthropogenically eutrophicated lakes and rivers. Monitoring frequency varies between the locations and measured elements.

aquatic monitoring Biodiversity Biological effects Biology diatoms Fish lakes macrophytes phytobenthos phytoplankton rivers surface water zoobenthos
2. BioBasis - Zackenberg

The purpose of the BioBasis programme is to monitor basic qualitative and quantitative elements of biodiversity in the terrestrial ecosystems at Zackenberg in Northeast Greenland. The programme provides data on typical High Arctic species and processes that can be expected to react on year to year variation in climate as well as long-term climate change. It includes 30 variables of terrestrial and limnic plant, arthropod, bird and mammal dynamics in the Zackenberg valley.

Biological effects Biology Fish Terrestrial mammals Modelling Ice Biodiversity Arctic Food webs Ecosystems
3. The Swedish National Forest Inventory


This project was previously a part of the project: National Survey of Forest Soils and Vegetation.

The Swedish National Forest Inventory (NFI) has the task of describing the state and changes of Sweden's forests. The inventory gathers basic information on forests, forest stand conditions and vegetation. Regularly monitored variables are: forest state, injuries, growth, logging operations, new forest stand, and environmental assessment. There is a close collaboration between the NFI and the Swedish Forest Soil Inventory (SFSI).

Biodiversity Biological effects Data management Environmental management forest Forest damage Temporal trends
4. National Survey of Forest Soils and Vegetation

 

This project has been divided into two new projects: The Swedish Forest Soil Inventory and the Swedish National Forest Inventory.

The Swedish National Forest Inventory has the task of describing the state and changes in Sweden's forests. The inventory gathers basic information on forests, soils and vegetation. It includes most aspects concerning soils, for example: soil types, soil chemistry including organic matter, water conditions and content of stones and boulders. Acidification, nitrogen deposition and the contribution by soils to climate change are some of the current issues dealt with. Regularly reported variables are: forest state, injuries, and growth, logging operations, new forest stand, and environmental assessment. Invented variables on permanent sampling plots include: position in the landscape, field vegetation, site conditions, soil sampling, assesment of soil characteristics, chemical analysis of soil in O-, B-, BC- and C-horizons.

acidification Biodiversity Biological effects Contaminant transport Data management Ecosystems Environmental management forest Forest damage Geochemistry Geology GIS Long-range transport Mapping Modelling Pathways Soils Spatial trends Temporal trends vegetation
5. The Swedish Forest Soil Inventory

 

This project was previously a part of the project: National Survey of Forest Soils and Vegetation.

The Swedish Forest Soil Inventory (SFSI) is part of the national environmental monitoring programme Forests and collects information about soil conditions and chemistry from around 23 500 permanent plots throughout Sweden. One tenth of these sampling plots are re-visited each year. The inventory is commissioned by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and is carried out by the Department of Soil and Environment at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).

The inventory gathers basic information on soils and vegetation on predominantly forest land, but also semi-natural grassland and wetland below the alpine forest limit. It includes most aspects concerning soils, for example: soil types, soil chemistry including organic matter, water conditions and content of stones and boulders. Acidification, nitrogen deposition and the contribution by soils to climate change are some of the current issues dealt with. There is a close collaboration between the SFSI and the National Forest Inventory (NFI), and the inventoried plots are a subset of the NFI plots. .

acidification Biodiversity Data management forest Geochemistry Geology Soils Spatial trends Temporal trends vegetation
6. INTERACTIONS

Important progress has been made in recent decades to describe and understand how arctic terrestrial vertebrate interact, especially concerning predator-prey interactions. Indirect interactions between different prey species modulated by shared predators (e.g. Arctic fox) are believed to have important impacts on the structure and/or dynamics of some communities. Yet, our understanding of these types of interactions is still fragmentary. To fill that gap, we will build on ongoing projects exploring related questions in Canada (Marie-Andrée Giroux, Nicolas Lecomte, Joël Bêty) and Greenland (Olivier Gilg, Niels M. Schmidt), while taking advantage of existing networks (ADSN in North America and “Interactions” program in Greenland and Eurasia). The aim of the project is to promote the implementation of several common protocols that will (1) improve each collaborator’s knowledge at the site level and, more importantly, that will (2) be merged across sites and years to improve our understanding of the functioning and the influence of indirect interactions on arctic vertebrate communities in general.

Five types of data have been identified (by the 5 initiators of the project already mentioned above) as being mandatories to answer questions related to this topic. These data sets will be collected using 5 specific protocols described in the following chapters:

  1. Monitor predation pressure using artificial nests
  2. Monitor real predation pressure on Calidris nests using Tiny Tags
  3. Observations of predators and lemmings (3b: fox scats DNA barcoding)
  4. Assessing lemming (or “rodent”) relative abundance using different methods
  5. Assessing “herbivores” (excl. rodents) relative abundance using “faeces transects”
Arctic Biodiversity Biological effects Biology Climate change Diet Ecosystems Environmental management Food webs Modelling Populations Reproduction Spatial trends Temporal trends Terrestrial mammals
7. FUVIRC-Finnish Ultraviolet International Research Centre

FUVIRC will serve ecosystem research, human health research and atmospheric chemistry research by providing UV monitoring data and guidance (i.e. calibration of instruments, maintenance of field test sites), research facilities (laboratories and accommodation), instruments and equipment.

Arctic Atmosphere Biodiversity Biological effects Biology Climate change Ecosystems Forest damage Geophysics Human health ozone Populations Reindeer Temporal trends UV radiation
8. LAPBIAT-Lapland Atmosphere-Biosphere facility

The main objective of the facility is to enhance the international scientific co-operation at the seven Finnish research stations and to offer a very attractive and unique place for multidisciplinary environmental and atmospheric research in the most arctic region of the European Union. Factors such as, arctic-subarctic and alpine-subalpine environment, northern populations, arctic winters with snow, changes in the Earth's electromagnetic environment due to external disturbances and exceptionally long series of observations of many ecological and atmospheric variables should interest new users.

Arctic Atmosphere Atmospheric processes Biodiversity Biological effects Biology Climate Climate change Climate variability Data management Ecosystems Emissions Environmental management Exposure Geophysics Human health Local pollution Long-range transport Modelling ozone Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) Populations Reindeer Spatial trends Temporal trends UV radiation
9. National Inventory of Landscapes in Sweden (NILS)

NILS is a nation-wide environmental protection programme that monitors the conditions and changes in the Swedish landscape.

The programme started in 2003 and includes field inventory and aerial photo interpretation of permanent sample plots in all types of terrestrial environments.

NILS is mainly funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and an important objective is to provide information for follow-up of the Swedish national environmental objectives and the Natura 2000 network. NILS also contributes data to environmental research and international reporting.

landscape biodiversity Sweden moniroting survey
10. Population Biology and Monitoring of Dunlin

Studying the population biology and monitoring the population status of Dunlin. The population under study ilives in a coatal tundra area in Northern Norway.

Biodiversity Biological effects Biology Climate variability Terrestrial Birds
11. Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP), Marine, Coastal, Freshwater and Terrestrial subgroups

CBMP is a cornerstone monitoring program of Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF). It is a international network of scientists, government agencies, Indigenous organizations and conservation groups working together to harmonize and integrate efforts to monitor the Arctic's living resources. (... more to be edited from the co-lead countries)

Biodiversity
12. LTER HAUSGARTEN

Multidisciplinary investigations at the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) observatory HAUSGARTEN are carried out at a total of 21 permanent sampling sites in water depths ranging between 250 and 5,500 m. From the outset, repeated sampling in the water column and at the deep seafloor during regular expeditions in summer months was complemented by continuous year-round sampling and sensing using autonomous instruments in anchored devices (i.e., moorings and free-falling systems). The central HAUSGARTEN station at 2,500 m water depth in the eastern Fram Strait serves as an experimental area for unique biological in situ experiments at the seafloor, simulating various scenarios in changing environmental settings. Time-series studies at the HAUSGARTEN observatory, covering almost all compartments of the marine ecosystem, provide insights into processes and dynamics within an arctic marine ecosystem and act as a baseline for further investigations of ongoing changes in the Fram Strait. Long-term observations at HAUSGARTEN will significantly contribute to the global community’s efforts to understand variations in ecosystem structure and functioning on seasonal to decadal time-scales in an overall warming Arctic and will allow for improved future predictions under different climate scenarios.

Biodiversity carbon flux Climate change ecology Ice Marine benthos marine ecosystem monitoring Oceanography Plankton
13. Arctic and Alpine Stream Ecosystem Research

The project, Arctic and Alpine Stream Ecosystem Research (AASER), started within EU’s Climate & Environment Programme and now continues with national funding, primarily Norway, Italy and Austria. The objective is to study dynamics and processes in rivers systems in Arctic and Alpine regions. Emphasis is given to the relationships between benthic invertebrates and environmental variables, especially in glacier-fed systems and in relation to climate change scenarios. On Svalbard research is concentrated around Ny Ålesund, particularly Bayelva and Londonelva. In 2004 the focus will be on the use to stable isotopes to detect transfer processes within and between ecosystems.

Glaciers Biology Catchment studies Spatial trends Climate change Biodiversity Arctic Food webs Temporal trends Ecosystems
14. Restoration of the salmon stock in the Tuloma river system

The possibility of restoring the salmon stocks in the Tuloma system is assessed by collecting background information on the river system: present fish fauna, habitat quality, migratory routes etc. Planning the restoration including technical and management aspects is under way.

Biological effects Biology Populations Hydrography Catchment studies Fish Indigenous people Acidification Spatial trends Modelling Biodiversity Arctic Reproduction Diet Temporal trends Ecosystems
15. Monitoring of agriculture and forestry induced diffuse load in surface and ground water

The aim is to observe long term effects of land use practices on waters. Monitoring concerns specific locations, where diffuse loads of nutrient or pollutants of agricultural and forestry origin poses a significant risk on water quality. Monitoring includes biological and physio-chemical elements. The program is part of monitoring according to the Water Framework Directive. It is coordinated by Finnish Environmental Institute (SYKE).

pollution Biological effects Biology diffuse load Fish Environmental management Biodiversity eutrofication forestry. agriculture Ecosystems
16. Monitoring of the Atlantic salmon stocks of the Teno (Tana) and Näätämö (Neidenelva) river systems, northernmost Fennoscandia.

Monitoring of the salmon stocksof the Teno and Näätämö river systems is based on long term data collection on juvenile salmon production, biological characteristics of the spawning stock, origin of salmon (wild/reared) and statistics on fishery and catches. Information on other fish species than salmon is also available.

Biological effects Biology Populations Hydrography Catchment studies Fish Indigenous people Acidification Spatial trends Modelling Biodiversity Arctic Reproduction Diet Temporal trends Ecosystems
17. Effects of large herbivores on diversity of plants and soil microfauna.

To monitor effects of hebivore grazing in established exclosures in west Greenland on diversity of plants and microarthropods in soil. One site in central west Greenland with caribou and one site in southern Greenland with sheep.

Biological effects Biology Soils Environmental management Climate change Caribou Terrestrial mammals Biodiversity Arctic Reindeer Ecosystems
18. Haliclona natural products

In contrast to many other marine regions, chemical interactions between organisms in Arctic waters are little understood. This project investigates natural products and chemical interactions in the sponge genus Haliclona in temperate and polar waters. Several new secondary metabolites isolated from Haliclona show feeding deterrence and activity against bacteria and fungi, but the compound composition varies with habitat and year. That raises the question whether sponges of the genus Haliclona as a model are able to adapt to changing environmental factors such as water temperature and colonization by bacteria by varying their secondary metabolite composition.

Biological effects Climate change Biodiversity natural products Ecosystems
19. Nuuk Basic-Pilot study

The Nuuk-Basic project aims to establish a climate monitoring programme on the westcoast of Greenland. During two workshops, one being in Nuuk with field survey, framework for a future climate monitoring programme will be established. The programme builds on the concept and institutions already performing climate monitoring in NE-Greenland through ZERO (Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations).

Biological effects Climate change Biodiversity Ecosystems
20. ZERO-database

The ZERO database contains all validated data from the Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations Basic Programmes (ClimateBasis, GeoBasis, BioBasis and MarinBasis). The purpose of the project is to run and update the database with new validated data after each succesfull field season. Data will be available for the public through the Zackenberg homepage linking to the NERI database. The yearly update is dependent on that each Basis programme delivers validated data in the proscribed format.

Biological effects Hydrography Geophysics Climate Polar bear GIS Sediments Marine mammals Biology Populations Soils UV radiation Fish Discharges Sea ice Climate change Terrestrial mammals Ice Biodiversity River ice Arctic Seabirds Geochemistry Reproduction Permafrost Ecosystems