The SITES infrastructure extends over varying ecosystems with all their component parts and interactions. Both small and large plants and animals, including humans, can be studied from an ecosystem perspective – their occurrence, composition, and relationship to change.
 
All stations are surrounded by vegetation, and most have a specific specialisation. The phenology of agricultural, forest and meadow/grassland plants is studied at many stations.
 
The SITES infrastructure has measurement series over 30-40 years of wildlife monitoring in Sweden. The data series contain hundreds of parameters, including population indexes for the six most common wildlife species, reproduction data for three species, tissue samples from wildlife, and statistics of wildlife observations. In the forest landscape, researchers can also examine interactions between nutrient application, parasites, beetles and insects,

Read more about what the Abisko, Asa, Erken, Grimsö, Lönnstorp, Röbäcksdalen, Skogaryd, Svartberget and Tarfala stations can offer you as researcher.

Ecological research at the Abisko station considers all forms of life in the vicinity, from microbes to tourists. Measurement programs includes phenology of mountain plants and birds. ​​​​​

Like many other SITES stations, Asais involved in ‘Nature’s Calendar’, and measure  the phenological development of plants. Together with Svartberget, Asa is responsible for extended phenological studies of forest trees, and produces annual berry forecasts.

Researchers can also study how forest regeneration and production are affected by fertilisation or damage by insects and wildlife. Another area of study is how wildlife browsing and grazing affects the forest ecology. 

The Erken station includes an analytical laboratory with specialisations that include zooplankton quantification and analyses. Like many other stations, Erken is involved in ‘Nature’s Calendar’, where the phenological development of plants is measured.

Grimsö is responsible to measure population dynamics through inventories of droppings, and capture, tagging and observations of Swedish wildlife and migrating birds. Many inventory series concern data collected over 30-40 years, and involves data series with hundreds of parameters. 
 
When deer are caught and tagged, DNA and anatomy are recorded. Population density data is available for moose, deer, vole, fox litters. mice and shrews, and around 40 migratory birds, including reproduction data for starlings. Grimsö has unique data series of surveys of droppings for six wildlife species covering an unusually large area (13,000 ha). Droppings are surveyed twice a year, and the browsing pressure of moose is surveyed on 600 plots every year, and winter fodder and habitat composition every fifth year. Mosquitoes and ticks captured in the area are identified and investigated for diseases.
 
The Wildlife Damage Centre is based at Grimsö, which provides information and education about damage caused by protected wildlife species and how to prevent it.

The methods for carrying out surveys are continually evaluated and quality assured, so knowledge generated by the measurements and research activities enables rapid establishment of new studies and reference areas.
 
Grimsö is also involved in ‘Nature’s Calendar’, and records the phenological development of plants.

Lönnstorp measure the development of crops from seed to harvest.

Röbäcksdalen is involved in ‘Nature’s Calendar’, and measure phenological development of plants.

The Skogaryd area contains different forest compositions, planted on former agricultural land, energy forest, and mire communities.

Like many other SITES stations, Svartberget is involved in ‘Nature’s Calendar’, and measure the phenological development of plants. Together with Asa, Svartberget is responsible for extended phenological studies of forest trees, and produces annual berry forecasts.

Wildlife studies have been carried out on, for example voles, and are still being carried out in the area. The Environmental Analysis programme at SLU is responsible for such studies, and the results are freely available. Aquatic ecology is also studied by researchers at Svartberget, including occurrence and survival of fish and, in recent years, investigations of movement patterns in relation to temperature.

At Tarfala, the phenology of high-alpine species is measured. Phenological measurements has started at strategic grazing and browsing sites for reindeer and moose. This measurement series is available to wildlife ecology researchers. Researchers have used Tarfala to study the composition and occurrence of insect populations in high-alpine environments and moose communities in glacial areas.