Research interests

• Landscape responses of organisms in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems – especially of macrophytes and small mammals
• Effects of land use and change in land use on population dynamics at different spatial scales - the importance of habitat and landscape connectivity
• Application of new remote sensing technologies in environmental monitoring
• Macrophytes as indicators of water quality in lakes
• Spatial and temporal variation of macronutrients and trace elements in biota
• Fire ecology

Ongoing projects

·         The reintroduction of European beavers – a plus for biodiversity or detrimental for the environment? (PhD-project in collaboration with Brendan McKie, Kevin Bishop, Göran Hartman and Erik Petterson, funded by Formas) 

·         Phytoremediation of ammonia-affected aquatic systems (funded by LKAB)

·         Muskrat as a possible cause of the long-term changes in water quality in Swedish lakes (in collaboration with Kjell Danell, funded by Stiftelsen Oskar och Lilli Lamms Minne)

·         Effects of mining on recipients and ecosystem resilience (funded by VINNOVA)

·         Effects of long-term habitat destruction at the regional scale on biodiversity in boreal ecosystems (in collaboration with Birger Hörnfeldt, Umeå University, funded by Carl Tryggers Stiftelse)

·         Environmental monitoring and assessment using unmanned aerial vehivles (with PhD student Eva Husson and in collaboration with Olle Hagner, Smartplanes AB, Skellefteå, funded by Stiftelsen för Teknisk Vetenskaplig Forskning till Minne av J. Gust. Richert)

·         Swedish Environmental Monitoring Program of Macrophytes in Lakes (funded by Swedish Environmental Protection Agency)

Finalized projects

• Ecological and biogochemical effects of natural forest fires (funded by Sveaskog Förvaltnings AB)
• Revision of the water quality element for macrophytes in lakes (funded by and in collaboration with Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) 2005-2007.
• Field-test of sampling methods for macrophytes (funded by Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) 2006-2008.
• Milder winter climate as possible cause of the long-term decline in vole numbers in northern Sweden (funded by Formas) 2004-2007.
• Plant indicators for lake geochemistry funded by Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) 2004-2005.
• Effect of forest fragmentation on small mammals (funded by Stiftelsen Oskar och Lilli Lamms Minne) 2004-2005.

Selected publications

Mjelde, M., Hellsten, S. and Ecke, F. 2012. A water level drawdown index for aquatic macrophytes in Nordic lakes. Hydrobilogia: Online first: 2012, DOI: 10.1007/s10750-012-1323-6. 

Dudley, B., Dunbar, M., Penning, E., Kolada, A., Hellsten, S., Oggioni, A., Bertrin, V., Ecke, F., Birk, S. and Søndergaard, M. 2012. Measurements of uncertainty in macrophyte metrics used to assess European lake water quality. Hydrobiologia: Online first: 2012, URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10750-012-1338-z.

Öhlander, B., Forsberg, J., Österlund, H., Ingri, J., Ecke, F. and Alakangas, L. (accepted for publication). Speciation of trace metals in a contaminated stream using membrane filtration, ultrafiltration, DGT and transplanted aquatic moss. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis. 

Chlot, S.,Widerlund, A., Siergieiev, D., Ecke, F., Husson, E. and Öhlander, B. 2011. Modelling nitrogen transformations in waters receiving mine effluents. Science of the Total Environment 409: 4585-4595.

 ECKE, F., CHRISTENSEN, P, RENTZ, R., SANDSTRÖM, P., NILSSON, M. and HÖRNFELDT, B. 2010. Landscape structure and the long-term decline of the grey-sided vole. – Landscape Ecology: 25: 551-560.

ECKE, F., MJELDE, M., HELLSTEN, S. and SCHLACKE, S. 2010. Potential conflicts between environmental legislation and conservation exemplified by macrophytes. – Hydrobiologia 656: 107-115.

ENGSTRÖM, E., RODUSHKIN, I., INGRI, J., BAXTER, D. C., ECKE, F., ÖSTERLUND, H. and ÖHLANDER, B. 2010. Temporal isotopic variations of dissolved silicon in a pristine boreal river – Chemical Geology: 271: 142-152.

JOHANSSON, T., ANDERSSON, J., HJÄLTÉN, J., DYNESIUS, M. and ECKE, F. 2010. Short-term responses of beetle assemblages to wildfire in a region with more than 100 years of fire suppression. Insect Conservation and Diversity . Published online: 28 September 2010, DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-4598.2010.00114.x. 10 pp.

RODUSHKIN, I. , ENGSTRÖM, E. , SÖRLIN, D., BAXTER, D., HÖRNFELDT, B., NYHOLM, E. and ECKE, F. 2010. Uptake and accumulation of anthropogenic Os in free-living bank voles (Myodes glareolus). Water, Air and Soil Pollution. Published online: 4 November 2010: DOI 10.1007/s11270-010-0671-y. 8 pp.

ECKE, F 2008. Drainage ditching at catchment scale affects water quality and macrophyte occurrence in Swedish lakes (Freshwater Biology, available online via Early View).

PENNING, W. E., B. DUDLEY, M. MJELDE, S. HELLSTEN, J. HANGANU, A. KOLADA, M. VAN DEN BERG, H. MAEMETS, S. POIKANE, G. PHILLIPS, N. WILLBY, F. ECKE 2008. Using aquatic macrophyte community indices to define the ecological status of European lakes. Aquatic Ecology 42: 253-264.

PENNING, W. E., M. MJELDE, B. DUDLEY, S. HELLSTEN, J. HANGANU, A. KOLADA, M. VAN DEN BERG, H. MAEMETS, S. POIKANE, G. PHILLIPS, N. WILLBY, F. ECKE 2008. Classifying aquatic macrophytes as indicators of eutrophication in European lakes. Aquatic Ecology 42: 237-251.

CHRISTENSEN, P., ECKE, F., SANDSTRÖM P., NILSSON M. & HÖRNFELDT, B. 2008. Can a low degree of fragmentation in a landscape predict presence of Clethrionomys rufocanus? - Population Ecology 50:169–179.

ECKE, F., CHRISTENSEN, P., HÖRNFELDT, B. & SANDSTRÖM, P 2006. Identification of landscape elements related to local declines of a boreal grey-sided vole population. - Landscape Ecology 21: 485 - 497.

ECKE, F., LÖFGREN, O. & SÖRLIN, D. 2002. Population dynamics of small mammals in relation to forest age and structural habitat factors in northern Sweden. - Journal of Applied Ecology 39: 781-792.