Projects-EN - University of Tartu Landscape Biodiversity Group

04.01.2021

LIFE IP project "ForEst&Farmland"

Comprehensive management of forest and farming landscapes to improve the conservation status of Natura 2000 habitats and species

Duration: 2020 January - 2029 December

The project is developed to tackle different conservation challenges that influence the values of Estonian most diverse ecosystems. Estonia is a sparsely populated country with vast territories covered with forests, wetlands and arable land, and where the historic land use has resulted in heterogenic and diverse landscapes. Socio-economic situation is changing – Estonia has been rapidly developing and rural areas face new challenges, mainly intensifying management due to different reasons that takes place both in forest and farming landscapes. The project will focus on forests and arable land with high biodiversity, this includes seminatural grasslands, fields, pastures and other types of arable land and a range of different forest ecosystems. The practices and methodologies to be developed and tested in the project will be of high demonstration value also for other regions and countries of the EU.

In this project, our workgroup is involved with the sustainable management of semi-natural grasslands and ensuring the biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Together with our partners, we will help launch a councelling system for semi-natural grasslands, restore grasslands and help with communication. In agricultural landscapes, we will create sample areas where crop yield and biodiversity are guaranteed thanks to science-based agroecological approaches. Together with farmers, we will test which agricultural practices are most effective in Estonia. We will work closely together with BirdLife to monitor the effectiveness of agri-environmental measures.

Project participants: Aveliina Helm, Tsipe Aavik, Marianne Kaldra, Rufus Trepp, Liis Kasari-Toussaint, Linda Pall, Kristiina Jürisoo, Remek Meel, Tanel Vahter

Partners: Ministry of the Environment (coordinator), Environmental Board, Ministry of Rural Affairs, State Forest Management Centre, BirdLife Estonia, Private Forest Centre, University of Tallinn, KEMIT

Funding: European Commission

03.04.2020

Centre of Excellence EcolChange

Duration: 2016 march - 2023 march

The Centre of Excellence EcolChange is created in cooperation of two universities, Estonian University of Life Sciences and University of Tartu. Head of the Centre is Professor Ülo Niinemets, Estonian University of Life Sciences. Our work group participates in the work of the Center of Excellence through the Macroecology work group. The EcolChange represents a synergistic network of expertise to elaborate global and local scenarios for terrestrial ecosystems in the context of global change, from molecular to biome-level responses. It aims to integrate studies of ecosystem function, biodiversity and adaptability, create symbiosis between macroecological big-data, genetic and experimental approaches and incorporate ecological knowledge into principles of adaptation to global change through sustainable ecosystem management. Furthermore, it aims to enhance ecologically sustainable economic growth via smart regional planning in forestry and agriculture.

Project participants: the whole work group

Funding: European Regional Development Fund

25.02.2020

Landscape-scale biodiversity restoration and time-lags in ecosystem functions (RESTFUNC)

Duration: 2020-2024

Increasing loss and fragmentation of many valuable habitats has led to widespread loss of biodiversity and decline of ecosystem functions. Ecological restoration enables to re-create suitable conditions for species and ecosystems suffering loss of habitat, and ensure the sustainable provision of vital ecosystem services. Restoration has mostly focused on re-creation of suitable environmental conditions and has paid considerably less attention to the importance of incorporating landscape-scale effects for achieving restoration success. There is also a considerable lack of knowledge regarding potential time-lags influencing the recovery of biodiversity and ecosystem functions, including important biotic interactions. In RESTFUNC, we will identify local and landscape-scale factors that are needed to consider when planning ecological restoration, study how to buffer and mitigate lags in ecosystem functions, and how to ensure landscape multifunctionality under changing land-use and climate. One of the first results of the project is the greenmeter (rohemeeter), which helps to assess the biodiversity of landscapes.

Project participants: Aveliina Helm, Krista Takkis, Triin Reitalu, Liis Kasari, Elisabeth Prangel, Linda Pall

Funding: Estonian Research Council (ETAg)

Project information in Estonian Research Information System

21.01.2020

Conservation of natural biodiversity in agricultural land

Duration: 2019 March - 2020 September

In addition to nature reserves, biodiversity should be preserved elsewhere. For instance, agricultural landscapes contain biodiversity that should be preserved. One of the aims of this project is to bring together information on effective activities and practices that help preserve the natural biodiversity of Estonian agricultural landscapes. It also gives an overview of the different performance-based support schemes tested in Europe and proposes a concept for paying performance-based semi-natural habitat support on the basis of community status and biodiversity indicators. In order to achieve these aims, an easily understandable overview about the biodiversity conservation activities in agricultural landscapes and input for the development of result-based semi-natural habitat support will be provided. In addition, overviews of the impact of different management regimes on permanent grassland biota and farmers' and landscape caretakers' expectations about the result-based habitat support will be done. The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Macroecology workgroup.

Project participants: Aveliina Helm, Tsipe Aavik, Elisabeth Prangel, Krista Takkis, Rufus Trepp, Kersti Riibak

Funding: Ministry of Rural Affairs

Final report of the project (in Estonian)

20.01.2020

CELSA project: Linking genetic diversity and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities of host plant

Duration: 2019-2020

Increasing land-use intensity across Europe has brought along the loss of many natural habitats and a rapid decrease in biodiversity. There is an urgent need for solutions to alleviate these negative effects, and the restoration of degraded habitats is the key to halting further biodiversity loss. The restoration of self-sustainable plant populations is critical for successful habitat restoration. Two of the most important bottlenecks in this context are (i) the generally low genetic diversity of restored plant populations, and (ii) the lack of suitable soil fungi. First, because plant populations colonizing newly restored habitats are often small and generally originate from few source populations, their population genetic diversity is low, resulting in reduced fitness due to inbreeding and genetic drift. Second, many plant species depend on the presence of beneficial soil fungi, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which can improve plant nutrition and protection from pathogens. Lack of such fungi in restored habitats can therefore impose a significant hurdle in the process of ecological restoration. However, it is not currently known, how both of these factors, i.e. plant genetic diversity and AM fungi, interact with each other and affect the effectiveness of ecological restoration. The results of this project will be an overview about the existing knowledge of the problem, results of the experimental study with Campanula rotundifolia as the host plant and practical guidelines to restore self-sustainable plant populations. This project is done in collaboration with Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) and our colleagues from plant ecology workgroup in the University of Tartu.

Project participants: Aveliina Helm, Tsipe Aavik

Funding: University of Tartu and Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven)

22.02.2019

The effect of landscape configuration on the functional connectivity of Primula veris – a landscape genomic approach

Duration: 2018 - 2020

Habitat fragmentation is a major threat to species and genetic diversity, the latter being a crucial prerequisite for species survival in times of rapid environmental change. Yet, we still lack detailed understanding of how landscape elements shape gene flow and by that affect the distribution of genetic diversity in habitats which experience drastic decrease in area and connectivity. To address this gap in our knowledge, I will apply state-of-the-art molecular tools in combination with landscape analysis for determining landscape variables affecting connectivity-related gene flow between fragmented populations, and neutral as well as adaptive relevant genetic diversity within and between populations. With the proposed project, we shall obtain fundamental insights into the landscape-driven genetic background of plants, which can serve as a basis for guiding decision-making in environmental conservation policy.

Project participants: Sabrina Träger, Tsipe Aavik

Funding: Estonian Research Council (ETAg)

Project information in Estonian Research Information System

Scheme of landscape genetic analyses

10.02.2019

Effect of land-use change on the provision of ecosystem services

Effect of land-use change on biodiversity and related ecosystem services

PhD project of Elisabeth Prangel, supervisor Aveliina Helm

Project duration: 2017-2021

Project focuses on effects of land-use change on biodiversity and on provision of important ecosystem services. One focus point of the project is to assess possible time lags in the dynamics of ecosystem service provision. Study will be mostly carried out on semi-natural grassland communities and agricultural landscapes that has undergone large changes during past century. Information obtained during the project will improve our ability to create well-functioning landscapes supporting biodiversity and maintaining viable ecosystem services.

10.02.2019

Genetic diversity of grassland plants: the effect of spatiotemporal landscape changes

Duration: 2015-2021

Fragmentation is one of the major threats to biodiversity. However, genetic consequences of fragmentation and its evolutionary impact are not fully understood. DNA sequencing techniques enable the detection of numerous molecular markers in neutral and adaptive parts of genome. This offers great opportunities for answering questions about the effects of fragmentation on genetic diversity and its evolutionary consequences. We will use a system of alvar grasslands in Estonia to examine the effect of fragmentation on the genetic diversity of grassland plants. We will apply novel tools of next-generation sequencing and landscape genomics – a discipline combining population genomics with landscape ecology – to assess the role of current and historic landscape structure on neutral as well as adaptive genetic diversity of plants. The results of the project will advance knowledge of the consequences of fragmentation for biodiversity and are relevant for effective grassland conservation.

Project participants: Tsipe Aavik, Sabrina Träger, Iris Reinula, Marianne Kaldra

Funding: Estonian Research Council Project information in Estonian Research Information System Scheme of landscape genetic analyses

Coverage:

10.02.2019

Restoration of Estonian alvar grasslands

Duration: 2014-2019

Project LIFE to Alvars (LIFE13 NAT/EE/000082) started in 1.09.2014 and lasted 5 years. During the project, 2500 hectares of alvar grasslands in Estonia were restored and biodiversity-supporting habitat management was launched. Alvar grasslands are valuable and highly biodiverse habitats, designated to the European Union’s Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) code 6280* (Nordic alvar and precambrian calcareous flatrocks). Alvar grasslands are semi-natural grasslands with thin lime-rich soil on a limestone bedrock.
One third of all the alvar grasslands in Europe are situated in Estonia. However, in 2013 only around 2000 hectares i.e less than 30% of Estonian alvar grasslands were under annual management (moderate grazing), which is necessary for the long-term persistence of this habitat and its diverse set of species. Unmanaged sites heavily overgrow with shrubs (mostly juniper Juniperus communis) and trees (mostly Scots pine Pinus sylvestris).
LIFE to Alvars project was carried out on 25 sites. 12 project sites were on Saaremaal island, 6 on Hiiumaa island, 5 on Muhu island, 1 in Pärnumaa and 1 in Läänemaa. Restoration actions involved the removal of excessive trees and shrubs, as well as the establishment of the grazing infrastructure.
During the project, specialists from the University of Tartu and the Estonian University of Life Sciences monitored the effect of restoration on biodiversity. During the summers of 2014-2015, specialists quantified the pre-restoration environmental conditions of habitats and recorded the status of vascular plants, bryophytes, spiders, butterflies, bumblebees, birds and mycorrhiza. After restoration, in 2019 and 2020, post-restoration monitoring took place. In the future, the goal is to repeat the monitoring at least after every 5 years. Such extensive biodiversity monitoring is necessary for accurate assessment of restoration success in the future.

Project participants: Aveliina Helm, Liis Kasari, Elisabeth Prangel, Linda Pall

Funding: The total cost of the project is approximately EUR 3.7 million, of which 75% is a contribution from the European Community LIFE + Nature Program and 25% from the Estonian State. Local co-financing is provided by the Environmental Investment Center, University of Tartu, Estonian University of Life Sciences and Estonian Seminatural Community Conservation Association.

Final report of the project and maintenance plan of alvars (in Estonian).

02.01.2019

Mapping and assessment of Estonian ecosystems and related ecosystem services

Duration: 2018-2020 July

During the project, the most suitable methodology for assessing the status of Estonian forests, marshes, grasslands and agricultural ecosystems, and for fixing the baseline values of selected ecosystem services will be developed. The aim is to identify the most important ecosystem services offered by the selected ecosystems and to associate these with the state of ecosystems. As a result of the work, assessments of the state of the Estonian ecosystems and related ecosystem services will be made, which will significantly improve our ability to take into account the great importance of natural communities in maintaining our living environment. The project will be carried out in cooperation with the University of Tartu and the Estonian University of Life Sciences.

Project participants: Aveliina Helm, Elisabeth Prangel

Funding: Environment Agency, project ELME „Elurikkuse sotsiaal-majanduslikult ja kliimamuutustega seostatud keskkonnaseisundi hindamiseks, prognoosiks ja andmete kättesaadavuse tagamiseks vajalikud töövahendid”

The presentations of the final seminar of the project (in Estonian)

Uudiste arhiiv

LIFE IP project "ForEst&Farmland"

Comprehensive management of forest and farming landscapes to improve the conservation status of Natura 2000 habitats and species

Centre of Excellence EcolChange

Centre of Excellence EcolChange

Landscape-scale biodiversity restoration and time-lags in ecosystem functions (RESTFUNC)

Landscape-scale biodiversity restoration and time-lags in ecosystem functions (RESTFUNC)

Conservation of natural biodiversity in agricultural land

Conservation of natural biodiversity in agricultural land

CELSA project: Linking genetic diversity and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities of host plant

CELSA project: Linking genetic diversity and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities of host plant

The effect of landscape configuration on the functional connectivity of Primula veris – a landscape genomic approach

The effect of landscape configuration on the functional connectivity of Primula veris – a landscape genomic approach

Effect of land-use change on the provision of ecosystem services

Effect of land-use change on biodiversity and related ecosystem services

PhD project of Elisabeth Prangel, supervisor Aveliina Helm

Genetic diversity of grassland plants: the effect of spatiotemporal landscape changes

Genetic diversity of grassland plants: the effect of spatiotemporal landscape changes

Coverage:

Restoration of Estonian alvar grasslands

Restoration of Estonian alvar grasslands

Mapping and assessment of Estonian ecosystems and related ecosystem services

Mapping and assessment of Estonian ecosystems and related ecosystem services

Media coverage and dissemination

Archives