Hello, welcome

The Food Web Research Group at the University of Helsinki is based at Tvärminne Zoological Station on the southern coast of Finland. We study how biodiversity and species interactions shape ecosystem functioning, stability, and resilience in aquatic ecosystems, with a particular focus on the ecological network structure and dynamics of food webs.

Our research combines empirical and theoretical approaches, integrating field surveys, mesocosm experiments, ecological network analysis, DNA metabarcoding, and ecosystem carbon-flow modelling. By combining these complementary approaches, we investigate how global change alters species interactions, reorganises food webs, and affects ecosystem processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Much of our current research focuses on Baltic Sea coastal ecosystems, where habitat-forming species such as bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus), seagrasses, and blue mussels play a central role in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. However, We also work across a broader range of marine ecosystems, including the North Sea, Barents Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Southern Ocean, allowing us to address fundamental ecological questions across contrasting environmental conditions.

The group is led by Susanne Kortsch, Academy Research Fellow at the University of Helsinki. This group was awarded an Academy Research Fellowship from the Research Council of Finland for the project Heatwave-driven Rewiring of Coastal Food Webs.This project investigates how increasingly frequent marine heatwaves restructure coastal food webs and ecosystem functioning, with the goal of improving predictions of how marine ecosystems will respond to one of the challenges of climate warming.