Research groups that operate wholly or partly under the Department of Forest Sciences.
The groups are presented in alphabetical order by the last name of the group leader. The list also includes websites of the department's disciplines.
Our major research focus is the application of biotechnology knowledge and tools for the determination of ecological, molecular and biochemical pathways required by emerging fungal and forest pathogens to infect and cause disease to tree worldwide. The basal mechanisms on how forest trees resist infection is also our primary research goal. More specific goals have been deciphering fungal pathogenicity factors by functional analysis of effector-like proteins of the conifer pathogen Heterobaisidon annosum as well as impact of tree microbiomes on forest tree health. A major research question however is, why are certain fungi pathogenic whereas others are obligate saprotrophs or mutualists like mycorrhizal fungi?
Most of today’s environmental policy problems such as deforestation and the existing inequities in rights to and benefits from natural resources are deeply rooted in historical processes and patterns of global trade and investment within and beyond the forestry sector. In the International Forest Policy research group we strive for a world in which forests are high on national and international agendas, and forest stewards’ rights are acknowledged. We believe that research can make a difference through the provision of sound evidence of what is and what can be without prescribing what should be. We aim to provide critical analysis to better understand politics and power in highly contested domestic and international policy arenas, often beyond the forestry sector as such.
Forests affect their environment in multiple ways, but their functions also depend on the changes in climate and environment. We study the processes and responses of boreal forest ecosystems on different levels, from the scale of tree parts and soil particles to the scale of landscape. We seek to understand how the environment affects the functioning of a single plant or whole forest, and how, inversely, the forests can influence their surroundings. These questions are important when trying to understand and predict the impacts of warming climate on the environment and evaluating the importance of forested areas in mitigating climate change.
Our group is a consortium of multiple principal investigators.
Coordinator: prof. Mirja Mikkilä
Natural resources are the basis for a just, resilient and sustainable future. We research and create new solutions for forest, bio-based operational models and businesses. Sustainable and just societal transformations, sustainable governance of forest and related natural resource-based ecosystems form the framework for our research and education activities at bachelor, master and doctoral level.
The discipline of Forest Ecology and Management at the University of Helsinki aims at improving the understanding of forest ecological processes and the sustainable use of forests and peatlands through new information. The research focuses on for example the interactions between climate change and forest and peatland ecosystems and new methods of managing forest information.
Forest Ecology and Management is one of the disciplines of the Department of Economics and Management.
Forests contribute to the material and immaterial needs and demands of societies across the globe, and help respond to key challenges. Yet forests are contested spaces, with underlying politics and power relations shaping who benefits, and whose interest matter. Our research and teaching examines these questions to advance sustainable change in forests, business and value chains.
Forest Economics, Business and Society is one of the disciplines of the Department of Economics and Management.
In our group, the research related to root processes is focused on root-microbial interactions and on how roots and symbiotic fungi affect plant C allocation and nutrient uptake. In addition, our work has a strong emphasis on the study of C stabilization, microbial carbon use efficiency and vertical distribution in soil profiles — aspects that are crucial when soil C sequestration is evaluated. Research is teamwork, and we collaborate tightly with other groups and institutes with complementary expertise. Our work is part of the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) activities.
Spatial geoinformation is a necessity for cultivating sustainable natural resource management and a green economy. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) has enabled a technological leap forward to further the acquisition of detailed spatial geoinformation. By using ALS, one can collect geometrically accurate point clouds. These 3D data sets that use single- or multi-temporal point clouds enable a wide range of applications in the field of natural resource management. Adding a time dimension provides 4D geoinformatics. Multi-temporal geodata offers information about the history of our environment, and the 4D data can be used in modeling and simulating the future.
We add value for sustainably sourced wood by creating novel knowledge on wood formation, properties, and quality as fiber - and building raw material. We are especially interested in creating new ways to utilize forestry side streams, and bioinnovate biohybrid materials that store carbon in long term uses, while applying the principles of circular economy and cascading processing. We also seek to build fundamental and applied understanding on the human-wood interactions and holistic wellbeing and resilience in built environments.
Our research focuses on the feedbacks from soils to climate change, but also on ways to mitigate climate warming by increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from soils.
In the research group Forest Structure and Dynamics, we study both managed and natural forests and in a scale, ranging from local to global. We are particularly interested in tree sizes, growth, management, and natural disturbances such as the damage caused by storms and how trees avoid being snapped by wind. Our empirical methods include both experimental and inventory approaches. In addition, our research benefits global datasets and models.
Insect Ecology and Adaptation - team studies diverse topics of insect ecology and evolution. Our model systems include both economically important forest insects (e.g. pine sawflies and bark beetles) as well as threatened forest insect species. Our research interests range from basic behavioural ecology and evolution research to more applied questions; towards a better understanding of forest insects as a part of a network of biological interactions and informing the sustainable management of forest resources. We use a combination of behavioural, genetic, demography, life-history and functional ecological techniques both in the field and in the laboratory.
Climate is changing, causing warming temperatures and changes in precipitation and snow cover. High latitude ecosystems are typically temperature limited, and thus considered to be especially sensitive to climate warming. The most dramatic changes are to be expected in winter conditions. Our team studies how terrestrial ecosystems respond to changing climate conditions, especially drought and freezing stress, and how ecosystems, in turn, affect climate e.g. by acting as carbon sink and aerosol source. Ecosystems mediate the exchange of material and energy between the soil and the atmosphere, and are thus crucial components of the critical zone, i.e. the outer skin of the Earth. The critical zone and ecosystems within provide the life-sustaining resources and are increasingly impacted by human actions and thus it is crucial to study the interactions between ecosystems and climate.
The Peatland Ecology Group studies peatlands from the arctic to the tropics, with different land-uses, and with different time horizons. Our research focus is on the C and GHG cycling and the impacts of management on peatland functions.
Our research focuses on ecological and physiological research questions related to forest growth, production and material balances. How does tree form interact with the photosynthesis capacity and water transport of the tree? What causes the decline of height growth in old trees? Can optimal solutions derived from evolutionary theory explain tree structure and function, such as carbon sequestration and allocation? The questions are analysed using theoretical models and numerical simulations that are based on a mechanistic description of tree processes. The models allow us to investigate quantitatively the impacts of environmental changes on forest growth and functioning. Will our forests grow more in the future, or will various disturbances counterbalance the potential gains in growth? The models are already being used in decision support in solving problems of multiobjective forest management and as a basis of economic analyses of forest production and ecosystem services.
Mixed Reality Hub (MRHub) is a research group and laboratory for service concepts that utilize virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality in sales, customer service, training and education. The team concentrates on digitally supported cases where interpersonal interaction is a focal element of the service design.
In the finest resolution, evolution can be described as a change of allele frequencies from generation to generation, leading to differences among individuals, populations and species. As a population geneticists, our major goal is to understand what evolutionary mechanisms lead to genetic and phenotypic variation that we observe in these different scales. We work on forest tree population genomics, tackling problems relating to local adaptation, inference of population history using genetic data, effects of domestication and breeding and identifying genetic footprint of natural selection. Studying especially the outcrossing species with large population sizes, such as forest trees is important for understanding how adaptation to various environmental conditions arise. Several of our study species have large, complex genomes, which present additional challenges, but also facilitate questions that cannot be answered using common model species.
Our research integrates economics, ecology, and mathematical methods to understand the management of biological natural resources such as forests, fish, or reindeer. This has created a dialogue between existing scientific traditions and new discoveries that is realized by transferring knowledge between various fields. In proceeding toward new directions, we are guided by cross-disciplinarity and the requirements of sound theoretical basis, mathematics, detailed empirical realism, and computational methods. This enables harsh, progressive, and critical reflection of existing science, policy, and practice.
VITRI provides academic training, implements research on forests and related natural resources in tropical and developing countries and undertakes assignments related to tropical forest management as well as environmental and forest policy.