Research group of EcoEvoAqua studies aquatic species and their ecosystems from multiple perspectives: evolutionary processes, eco-evolutionary dynamics, complex ecological interactions and environmental interactions. Human-induced impacts, conservation issues, future projections, and sustainable management of natural resources are in the focus on our research. The group applies mechanistic modelling approaches and statistical data analyses, particularly Bayesian statistics.
Group consists of senior scientists, post-doctoral researchers, PhD students, and MSc students. For further information about our research team, research topics and funding sources, see the menu on the left. Members of the group are also active in Scientific Diving.
Many fish species worldwide suffer from overfishing, environmental changes and changes in species phenotypes. The ways how these phenomena translate to the resilience of a species and its ability to recover are largely unknown. Yet resolving such causal pathways is key to understanding conservational status of the populations, risks associated with human influences, and the principles of sustainable fishing. My research group tackles these problems through process-based eco-evolutionary and multispecies modelling as well as through upscaling empirical observations to the systems dynamics.
Detecting mechanisms affecting and altering life-histories and species dynamics are not only relevant from applied perspectives but also contribute to our fundamental knowledge about population biology and species evolution. My research touches a broad range of such topics, for example, Allee effects and their impacts of population growth and recovery, phenotypic plasticity, life-history evolution and its ecological feedbacks, drivers of natural selection, abiotic and biotic interactions.
As one of the ‘Key projects’ funded by the Academy of Finland, we have developed a computer-game type of interface ‘Kalapeli’ for a complex ecosystem model. The idea of this game is to provide an easy, user-friendly way to explore how fishing impacts not only target species but the entire ecosystem, through food web interactions.
Fishing the Food Web
Food Web Visualization Tool
