With its 25 meters, the new scaffolding tower is replacing the old mast, which had become overgrown by forest. The new tower will be much easier to access for future maintenance. Alongside the tower, both the sensors and the logger-system have been updated.
PhD Candidate Alena Förster is one of the authors of the paper "Nematode community structure suggests perennial grain cropping cultivation as a nature-based solution for resilient agriculture". This study was conducted at SITES Lönnstorp Research Station during 2021-2022.
Since the early 1970s, SITES Grimsö Wildlife Research Station has been a hub for long-term wildlife and habitat monitoring. Some of the station's ongoing surveys were launched as early as 1973–74, when the station first opened. Spanning a research area of 13,000 hectares, these long-running data series are not only rare in Sweden, but also internationally.
All ecosystems including lakes are teeming with viruses that infect bacteria. These specific type of viruses are known as phages. Despite being very small, phages play a considerable role in modulating nutrient cycling in the lake environment through the impact they have on their bacterial hosts. Phages also contribute to transferring genes within the bacterial community and by doing so they affect evolutionary and ecological dynamics of their bacterial host. Many aspects of phage-bacteria interactions are still unknown and need specifically developed datasets.
Dr. Hannah Ohm and Dr. Åsa Grimberg are two of the authors of the paper "Novel SNP markers for flowering and seed quality traits in faba bean (Vicia faba L.): characterization and GWAS of a diversity panel". This study was conducted at SITES Lönnstorp Research Station during 2021-2022.
On April 11th, the SITES leadership team, formed by the Secretariat, Station Managers and Thematic Programs Leads, gathered for a full-day meeting at the World Trade Center in Stockholm. The day was filled with productive discussions around several key topics that are central for the future of SITES. One major focus was a self-assessment of the work carried out across the network, with the goal of evaluating the achievements and identifying areas for growth and improvement.
PFAS compounds are synthetic chemicals that are persistent in the environment and have been linked to potential health risks. Their presence in water bodies raises concerns about long-term contamination and ecological effects, making their monitoring crucial for effective control.
The SITES Secretariat together with the system developer team at ICOS have been cooperating with the Swedish National Data Service (SND) on the development of the new web portal Researchdata.se providing input on data harvesting and how to present metadata for SITES and other data providers. This portal has been developed to find, share, and reuse research data from a wide range of research fields.
At the Svartberget Research Station scientists are planning to launch one of the largest field experiments to evaluate the effect of climate change on the tree growth, carbon sequestration and biodiversity in the boreal forest. The experiment, which will include different types of water limitation (drought) and heating, will feature an unprecedented scale, instrumentation, and level of replication. Designed to run for more than a decade, the project will be funded by the Kempe Foundation and the KAW Wallenberg Initiatives of Forest Research (WIFORCE).
We are excited to announce that, as of March 1st, Marcus Wallin has been appointed as the new director of SITES. Marcus is already well-known in our community, having previously led the SITES Water Program, where he made a significant impact through his leadership and dedication. We look forward to working with Marcus in his new role and seeing the continued growth and success of SITES under his direction! Here is a little more about him: