The perils of climate change clearly points towards the need for a green shift with less use of fossil fuel. However, it is important to be aware of the possible adverse consequences of a bioeconomy. Harder exploitation of forested areas may mean increased use of fertilization, harrowing of the forest ground after clear-felling, removal of branches and stumps for energy

In this conference we explore how our freshwaters will be affected by the “Green Shift”, or bioeconomy (the transformation from fossil fuel to bioeconomy, with its demand on biomass). BIOWATER has studied how land use and therefore water quality may change as a result of land use and climate change. See the programme and register for Biowater’s Nordic stakeholder conference

In boreal catchments, iron has a key role in biogeochemical and ecological contexts, and at the same time has many harmful impacts on aquatic organisms and ecosystems. Recent studies indicate that iron concentrations are increasing in boreal freshwaters, with the potential negative effects this can have on water ecology. Finnish researchers have now explored the many aspects of iron in

We congratulate Dr. Hannah Wenng, who received her PhD after a successful defence on 18 November 2021. The title of Hannah’s thesis is “Impacts of Climate and Agricultural Management on Hydrology and Water Quality. A Headwater Catchment Scale Approach.” In her work, Hannah has studied the connections between agricultural practices, climate, and freshwater environment. She has approached this topic from

Cleaning of ditches to maintain an adequate water table is a common practice in peatland forestry. Ditch maintenance promotes forest growth by keeping the water table at favourable level but as a negative side effect it increases nutrient and sediment loads to waterways. In Finland, scientists have examined the trade-off between increased harvest revenues and declined water quality due to

Researchers at the University of Oulu and the Finnish Environment Institute have addressed the question on how diatoms in rivers respond to different nutrient conditions. Interestingly, they found that high concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen seem to reduce the species variability, probably because sensitive taxa disappear, while certain tolerant taxa can survive. Phosphorus is traditionally believed to be the limiting

We are proud to announce that Bart Immerzeel (NMBU, Norway) defended his thesis successfully on 24 September 2021, and he is thereby the third Biowater PhD student to achieve his degree. Bart has studied how societal benefits of catchment ecosystems may change under a green shift. A transition to bioeconomy can change the land cover and management systems of Nordic

There is increasing evidence that forested riparian corridors improve the ecological status of freshwaters, but this Finnish study takes one step further and looks at the effect on a national scale. The scientists used data from more than 900 river water bodies in Finland. They found that the ecology of small to medium sized rivers in an agricultural landscape benefitted

All that are working with the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) are familiar with the quality elements used as indicators to assess the ecological status of water bodies. But does that mean that we know what the best indicators are? In a new paper, Finnish BIOWATER colleagues have tested the use of fungi as indicators of ecological status. Fungi are

BIOWATER is proud to announce that our former PhD student, now post doc, Mette Vodder Carstensen, is one of five talented researchers that received Aarhus University Research Foundation’s PhD Award for 2020. We can only say, well deserved, Mette! The assessment criteria of the Aarhus University PhD programme include the excellent quality of the thesis and the general efforts of