Environmental changes such as climate change, loss of natural habitats, eutrophication or unsustainable use of wild species cause threats to species. In the face of environmental changes, the biodiversity benefiting impacts of conservation and management measures, such as protected areas, do not always remain constant. For instance, climate change is shifting species distributions and altering their abundances in different locations. This results in a need to understand for examples changes in the impacts of protected areas to better predict future changes in species distributions. Also, understanding human perceptions on species and how those impact conservation issues play a role in understanding the threats and opportunities for species and habitats conservation.
Doctoral Researcher Anna Haukka studies what is the aesthetic value of bird species and how that impacts conservation issues such as wildlife trade.
Doctoral Researcher Sirke Piirainen is examining what factors affect species' risk to be endangered.