Monitoring Team

Our task is to monitor animal populations in Finland and study factors and processes affecting them. Our work provides necessary information for environmental administration and other stakeholders monitoring and conserving animal biodiversity. Much of this is done in collaboration with volunteers who are participating in monitoring schemes run by us (see links to different monitoring schemes below). We work closely together with work groups for endangered species and with the Vertebrates and Invertebrates Team, which for example runs monitoring schemes on reptiles and frogs and takes care of the Zoological Museum’s extensive collections.

Our current monitoring schemes and research topics are mainly on birds, but we intend to extend regular monitoring to other taxa as well, and some work is already done on bats. The main research topics of the Team can be divided into three broad themes: 1) Climate and habitat change effects on life history traits and ultimate population numbers and distributions of birds; 2) Movement and migration ecology of birds and bats; and 3) Conservation biological issues. In addition to these topics, our researchers participate in many different research projects ranging from evolutionary biology and animal behavior to community ecology.   

Our main monitoring schemes are: Bird ringing, Constant effort trapping site, Finnish bird atlas, Breeding land bird census, Breeding land bird point counts, Nest record scheme, National raptor survey (Raptor grid, Raptor questionnaire, Osprey monitoring), Winter bird census, Winter feeding site count, Breeding waterfowl census, Archipelago bird census, Bat survey and ringing, Rabbits in Helsinki, Survey on dead and ill animals.

Detailed descriptions and instructions for participating in different monitoring schemes are currently available only in Finnish, with the exception of pages on bird ringing. Distribution maps of Finnish breeding birds can be found on the pages of the Bird Atlas with their scientific names.