marine research in finland - Baltic Marine Environment Bibliography

season (April-October}. The station has a maximum capacity of about 25 persons, (November-
March about 10 persons), and on average 15-20 persons work at Husii {excluding field courses
and seminars) from May to October. Husii is primarily used for education (field courses; also at
Nordic level) and basic academic research at MSc, PhD, and postdoctorate levels. Since 1961
Abe Akademi University and the Government of Aland have an agreement according to which
Huso Biological
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Station is also used for monitoring the aquatic environment (marine and limnic)
on and around Aland (both general long-term monitoring and specific case studies). Thus Husii
Biological Station serves several purposes within basic and applied aquatic (primarily marine)
research, focusing largely on issues related to the vast archipelago and coastal Finnish regions.
The studies include routine field sampling, field experimentation (through SCUBA-diving), and
laboratory- and aquarium experiments. Sampling and analysis are done on hydrography and basic
nutrients, pelagic primary production and planktonic organisms, phytobenthos, zoobenthos,
fish and seabirds. Facilities include modem well-equipped laboratories, offices and teaching facilities,
aquarium facilities, housing, SCUBA- and general field equipment, and small boats for
archipelago use. Scientific co-operation includes other Finnish marine stations and research institutes,
and marine stations and universities in Scandinavia, NW Europe and the USA. About
20 scientific papers, reports and academic theses are published annually.
Main projects include (within each project one or several separate studies):
Long-term changes in the archipelago ecosystem (changes in nutrients, vegetation, zoobenthos
and fish communities in time and space; eutrophication effects 1970’s to 1990’s), including
comparisons Aland islands - Archipelago Sea - coastal Gulf of Finland and Gulf of
Bothnia
Mechanisms regulating structure and function for shallow water zoobenthos (meio- and
macrofauna) and fish communities (general fish communities and small littoral fish); experiments
in the field and laboratory (predator-prey interactions, biodiversity as a function
of community regulation and environmental parameters, food web structure and links between
trophic levels, the importance of physical and chemical stress such as drift algal mats,
hypoxia, sediment redistribution, etc.)
The ecology and ecophysiology of zoobenthos stressed by periodic hypoxia and anoxia
The occurrence and ecological significance of drift algal mats on shallow (O-20 m) soft
bottoms; seasonality, composition, nutrient release3 interactions with phytobenthos (Fucus,
Zostera), zoobenthos (recruitment, population- and community maintenance) and benthivorous
fish
Sediment quality and zoobenthos; results of SPI (sediment profile imaging) in relation to
traditional sediment analysis and zoobenthos studies (50 stations; 7-263 m depth)
Successional models for Baltic Sea zoobenthic communities in time and space
Marine plankton blooms and the microstratification of plankton; mechanisms behind sudden
local plankton blooms, and the importance and distribution of single species (biodiversity,
ecology); cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates (red tides and possible toxic blooms), primary
production, effects of eutrophication and traffic
Macroalgae and macrophytes as indicators of changes in the aquatic ecosystem (archipelago
zone 1950’s to 1990’s; lakes 1930’s to 1990’s)
The ecology of rocky shores and rock-pools; the importance of natural stress factors for the
distribution, abundance and interrelationships of epifauna (including long-term comparisons;
1970’s to 1990’s)
The biodiversity of snails in the lakes of Aland (“inverted island bio-geography”)
Monitoring studies for the Government of Aland (hydrography, nutrients, plankton, phytobenthos,
zoobenthos and fish)
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