The Metapopulation Research Group

University of Helsinki

Director: Academy Professor Ilkka Hanski
tel. +358 9 19157745
f. +358 9 19157694
ilkka.hanski(at)helsinki.fi

The Metapopulation Research Group at the Department of Ecology and Systematics, University of Helsinki, has established an internationally solid reputation as the leading research group in metapopulation ecology. The director, Professor Ilkka Hanski, is well known for his wide-ranging contributions to the biology of spatially structured populations and his successful combination of modelling with empirical research.

The two most visible achievements of the Meta population Research Group are the development of an effective modelling approach to metapopulation dynamics (the incidence function model and related models) and a large-scale empirical research project on a species of butterfly, the Glanville fritillary (Melitaea cinxia). The latter started as an ecological project but has now expanded to cover metapopulation genetics and evolution as well. This field project allows the researchers effectively to test many model predictions and it therefore functions as an important interface between theory and empirical research.

The strategic goals of the Metapopulation Research Group are to strengthen its position as the leading research group in metapopulation biology worldwide; to integrate genetic and evolutionary studies into the existing strong ecological framework; to promote a well integrated population-biological approach to metapopulation biology in general; to build up on its current strength in combining modelling with empirical studies and to facilitate the application of metapopulation biology in landscape-level environmental planning and management and the conservation of populations.

The Research Group comprises twelve researchers (senior and post-doctoral researchers), 17 post-graduate students, and four assisting persons.

Centre of Excellence pages