Biogeochemistry research group

Research group

Biogeochemistry research group (BGC) focuses on studying the effects of climate change and land-use change on the biogeochemical cycles and on dynamics of gases important in the atmosphere. The conducted research spans various scales from molecules to ecosystems to landscape.

Our research areas include: Analysis of greenhouse gas dynamics and carbon sequestration under changing temperature and hydrological conditions with specific emphases on thawing permafrost (effects of climate change). We study atmospheric and environmental impacts of biomass (bioenergy, agriculture) production on mineral and organic soils (forest biomass/agricultural biomass). We aim to develop sustainable biomass production systems which have efficient use of nutrients and low greenhouse gas emissions (effects of land-use change. Carbon and nitrogen cycling in aquatic ecosystems and the transport of carbon and nitrogen between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are also studied in our research group as well as the effects of disturbance mechanisms on soil carbon pools and fluxes.

Organization

Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Forestry

Group description

Biogeochemistry Research Group in December 2021

The research carried out in the Biogeochemistry research group focuses on studying the processes underlying the atmospheric greenhouse gases and reactive gaces important for atmospheric chemistry. Ecosystems can act as sources or sinks of several trace gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), nitrogen monoxide (NO), nitrous acid (HONO) and biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). All these gases play an important role in climate change. Our mission is to increase knowledge on CO2, CH4, N2O, NO, HONO and BVOCs dynamics in agricultural, forest and permafrost soils and aquatic ecosystems and the biogeochemical and microbial processes behind the fluxes. The Biogeochemistry research group consists of ca. 25 members with expertise in soil science, environmental sciences, greenhouse gas emissions, microbiology, stable isotopes, limnology, process modelling and atmospheric physics. Our research is multidisciplinary combining the expertise of researches having different scientific backgrounds. We collaborate world wide with leading researchers in their field. Also, our research group is international with more than 50% of the group members originating from outside Finland.

Homepage of the group

Keywords

agriculture arctic region biogeochemistry boreal forests carbon carbon cycle carbon dioxide climate change disturbance ecology forestry greenhouse gases lake ecosystems land use and land cover change methane mire Nitrogen cycle nitrous acid nitrous oxide peatland permafrost stable isotopes volatile organic compounds wildfire