The Importance of Taxonomy Taxonomy provides us with reproducible criteria for identification, which anyone can follow and verify. It is very important in biological research. In ecology, taxonomy …

Last Sunday, I was invited to give a talk at the workshop ‘From Specimens to Species: Arthropod Taxonomy in Practice’ at the joint NSO-Gfö Conference 2026 in Odense, Denmark (Picture 1)…

We investigated the role of dormant zooplankton in maintaining biodiversity in temporary environments of semi-arid regions under different levels of anthropogenic pressure: high (intensive agriculture...

Last week, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our beloved Balfour-Browne Water Beetle Club in Ireland. Our club was established by Jack Balfour-Browne in 1976 and is named after Frank Balfour-Browne, who promoted the research of water beetles. Our organiser of this year's BBClub meeting in Ireland, Brian Nelson, made a special gift based on some interesting photos of previous meetings to celebrate the 50th anniversary of BBClub (

Biodiversity in urban ponds Biodiversity is like a toolbox: the more tools we have, the better we can fix problems. In a pond, each plant, animal, and microorganism is a tool that helps the ecosyst…

What are urban ponds and why do they matter? This week, I gave a public talk organised by the Science Basement at the Oodi Library in downtown Helsinki. I decided to turn the content into a series …

Ilves liikkuu ketterästi Suomen vaihtelevassa elinympäristöjen mosaiikissa, mutta suosii silti selvästi lahopuuta sisältäviä metsiä ja maastoltaan vaihtelevia alueita. Helsingin yliopiston uusi tutkimus osoittaa, kuinka taitavasti tämä suurpeto tasapainoilee ihmisen muokkaamien alueiden ja luonnonympäristöjen välillä.

Urban ponds are increasingly exposed to both local environmental changes and regional urbanization pressures, which threaten aquatic biodiversity, making it urgent to understand drivers of freshwater....

Bringing back clean water to our landscapes is fundamental to reversing freshwater biodiversity loss.

In der ganzen Republik sind Naturschutzgruppen Jahr für Jahr aktiv, stellen Fangzäune auf und tragen Kröten über die Straße und legen Ersatzlaichgewässer an. Dabei sind sie auf viele helfende Hände an...

We are planning to bring a new mountain ponds working group to life within the network of the EPCN (European Pond Conservation Network). For this purpose, we call a meeting for all people that are int...

Abstract. In recognition of the importance of inland waters, numerous datasets mapping their extents, types, or changes have been created using sources ranging from historical wetland maps to real-tim...

After working day and night in my Helsinki urban ponds in early May, I managed to attend our Balfour-Brown Water Beetle Club Meeting near Montpellier in southern France (Pictues 1 & 2)! As usua…

Illustration of the net benefits and costs of different types of dams considered in this paper. The types of dams are ordered by relative benefit from left to right, with the most beneficial on the l...

Highlands Rewilding have uncovered an alarming decline in native oyster numbers within the Loch Sween Marine Protected Area (MPA). Marine biologist and oyster expert Dr David Smyth expected to find 10...

Monimuotoinen kaupunkiluonto tarvitsee sukeltajakuoriaisia. Ne ovat tärkeä osa ravintoketjussa. Kaupunkisuunnittelulla ja lampien huoltotoimilla voidaan heikentää tai parantaa kuoriaisten elinoloja.

Ponds in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area serve as habitats for diving beetles. Urban planning and pond maintenance can either degrade or enhance their living conditions.

Monimuotoinen kaupunkiluonto tarvitsee sukeltajakuoriaisia. Ne ovat tärkeä osa ravintoketjussa. Kaupunkisuunnittelulla ja lampien huoltotoimilla voidaan heikentää tai parantaa kuoriaisten elinoloja.

Animals are returning to the Hackney Marshes following years of decline, environmentalists say.

A family of eight is released into an enclosure in Rushden.

Urbanisation has led to decreasing quantity and quality of both terrestrial and aquatic habitats, resulting in biodiversity loss in urban ecosystems. Current research has focused on spatial patter...