INAR RI Eco­sys­tems

INAR RI Ecosystems is a research infrastructure project funded by the Academy of Finland and the host organisations for years 2017-2021.

INAR RI Ecosystems aims to develop fruitful environment for research collaboration, strengthen the Finnish ecosystem researchers´ position in European landscape of ecosystem research and to find sustainable solutions to maintain and develop ecosystem research infrastructure capacity in Finland.

The INAR RI Ecosystems community is a bottom-up initiative to improve the national integration in ecosystem research and to pave the way for the Finnish ecosystem research to actively participate in developing the integration between AnaEE, eLTER, and ICOS RIs, embedding the ENVRI plus concept.

In addition to ecosystem research infrastructures, the aim is to facilitate socio-ecological system research that is multi- & trans-disciplinary and (potentially) stakeholder-driven, through LTSER platforms. Given the strong socio-economic component of biodiversity and ecosystem services, assessing this dimension of ecosystems is key in the LTSER approach.

Goals

The main specific goals of INAR RI Ecosystems are to:

  • Enable and support the Finnish ecosystem research
  • Provide extended understanding on the functioning of forest, peatland, agricultural, urban and lake ecosystems, and their interactions with the atmosphere
  • Construct and upgrade observation sites and experimental platforms and laboratories
  • Coordinate the national activities and create co-operation and integration
  • Develop compliant, open data systems, data management and improved access to data to enable excellent science and new breakthroughs

Im­pact

  • Provide better understanding on current state of ecosystems, their plasticity and functions
  • Inform policy making process concerning environmental issues
  • Offer answers to the Grand Challenges, such as biodiversity loss, climate change and deteriorating state of ecosystems
  • Provide tools for mitigation of harmful changes through environmental monitoring, modelling, forecasting and impact analysis

Main pil­lars of INAR RI Eco­sys­tems

  • High-standard, long-term observation stations in different ecosystems baseline understanding, distinguishing short-term variability from long-term trends
  • Experimental field sites and laboratory experiments mechanistic understanding of ecosystem processes and interactions in changing climate
  • Metadata service dedicated for the ecosystem research community ensure compliant, open and easy accessibility of ecosystem-related data for scientific and monitoring purposes