As part of our ongoing series exploring IRISCC facilities across Europe, this article highlights key research platforms in Finland equipped to address climate risks, soil drought, and forest vulnerability.
As Europe warms at twice the global average rate (Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2025), Finland faces shifting weather patterns and prolonged dry spells that drive up evaporation. This rising climate stress weakens tree vitality, heightens wildfire risks, and accelerates soil carbon loss (Ministry of the Environment, 2024), creating cascading threats to national security of supply across forestry and agriculture (Räisänen & Hakala, 2026).
To mitigate these climate-driven threats, IRISCC provides access to Finland's premier research platforms:
Hyytiälä SMEAR II
Situated at the University of Helsinki’s Forestry Field Station, Hyytiälä SMEAR II measures continuous ecosystem-atmosphere exchanges across a 60-year-old Scots pine forest. SMEAR II tracks real-time carbon, water, and heat fluxes, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and aerosol formation during dry spells. The station also features six experimental forest management plots (comparing clear-cut, continuous-cover, and control sites) to evaluate how different forestry practices buffer ecosystems against severe drought and climate stress.
LBS (Lammi Biological Station)
Located on the shores of Lake Pääjärvi (one of Finland’s deepest lakes), Lammi Biological Station specializes in monitoring how climate shifts affect boreal aquatic ecosystems, wetlands, and old-growth forests. Operating year-round with modern water analysis laboratories and decades of baseline monitoring data, LBS allows researchers to investigate rising water temperatures, thermal stratification, nutrient dynamics, and biodiversity loss.
Nordic Experimental Peat Agroecosystem (Ruukki)
The NorPeat facility features 26 hectares of cultivated peatland equipped to measure agricultural productivity alongside greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, N2O, CH4) under warming and drought conditions. Utilizing eight controlled sub-surface drainage plots and continuous monitoring via Finnish Meteorological Institute Eddy Covariance towers, the site provides a live testing ground for water-table management and climate-smart farming during hot growing seasons.
Take Action Now
We encourage researchers and decision-makers to access the services and facilities in these countries to tackle ongoing environmental threats. Explore the full range of resources in the service catalogue.
Proposals can be submitted via the Fast Track for urgent projects, or through our 4th Call for Access, open from 20 July 2026 to 15 October 2026.
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