BLUES - Biodiversity, Land Use and Ecosystem Services

BLUES - Biodiversity, Land Use and Ecosystem Services

Research theme: Effects of land use and climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Blues

  • Reindeer eating in its natural habitat

     

Research activity

Land-use and climate changes are shaping nature alarmingly rapid. The BLUES group works to understand how land use interacts with climate to determine the distribution of species in time and space and diversity patterns, including species, phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity. We investigate how environmental variation affects the structure and dynamics of different ecosystems, communities, and populations. This provides knowledge on how to preserve biodiversity, important ecosystem functions and ecosystem services.

We have projects in different environments: primarily mountains, forests and semi-natural ecosystems. We aim to contribute to knowledge-based nature management. Current topics include how climate and grazing affect plant communities and ecosystems, spatial and temporal variation in plant-herbivore dynamics, biodiversity dynamics in urban areas under changing land uses, how land use and climate impact plant-pollinator interactions, how changes in land use and climate affects mires and wetlands.