My Areas of Interest: Plant-animal interactions; ecology of mammals; macro-ecology; invasive mammals; trophic interactions; population dynamics; climate change in northern latitudes; management of wildlife populations; natural resource management; history of wildlife and its management.

I am a professor of wildlife ecology and belong to the Faculty of Forest Sciences at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Umeå. My background is in animal ecology and my scientific focus is on the ecology of mammals, and to a lesser extent on birds and insects. I prefer to attach ecological questions by field experiments and by analyzing long-term data sets. The research arena is mostly the boreal forest close to where I live, but the tundra and savanna are also favorite habitats. Over time, I have become more and more interested in the interplay between habitat-wildlife-humans, i.e. social-ecological interactions and to understand them.

I started as a wetland biologist. My doctoral thesis was on the invasive muskrat and its ecology. How rapidly would it spread in Sweden, how might it affect the native vegetation? It belongs to the classical “cyclic” species of North America. How will the population fluctuate in the new environment? My wetland interest then expanded to include the ecology of ducks, and especially their feeding ecology and habitat choice. The main purpose of gathering this basic knowledge was to get ideas on how to maintain and restore wetland habitats to achieve a sustainable production of a species-rich fauna.

The interactions between plants and animals in terrestrial gradually became my main interest and that passion still continues. Over the years I have mainly worked with ungulates, especially moose, hares, microtine rodents and to some extent with leaf-feeding insects and saproxylic insects. The main issues have been optimal foraging strategy, the impact of herbivores on plant individuals, tree stands, ecosystem processes and biodiversity. The chemical interplay between the herbivore and it food plants is a fascinating and relatively unexplored issue. Further, I am interested in the new molecular techniques and hope that these will give new insights into old questions in the area of plant-animal interactions.

Some years ago, I got the opportunity to develop and lead a large research program on management of fish and wildlife populations. Within a multidisciplinary framework our highly competent scholars created a scientific foundation for a Swedish model of adaptive management. During this work I became interested in general questions of natural resource management, and especially the driving forces in society which have changed  wildlife laws and management.

Books:

Danell, K. and Bergström, R. 2010. Vilt, människa, samhälle. – Liber AB, Stockholm. (In Swedish).

Danell, K., Bergström, R., Duncan, P., and Pastor, J. 2006. Large herbivores and ecosystem functioning. – Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 

Baskin, L.M. and K. Danell. 2003. Ecology of ungulates: a handbook of species in eastern Europe and northern and central Asia. - Springer Verlag, Heidelberg.

Larsson, S. and K. Danell (eds.). 2001. Science and the management of boreal forest diversity. - Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. Supplement 3.

Hofgaard, A., Ball, J.P., Danell, K. and T.V. Callaghan (eds.) 1999. Animal responses to global change in the north. – Ecological Bulletins 47.

Some selected scientific papers:

Natural resource management

Folke, C., Jansson, Å., Rockström, J., Olsson, P., Carpenter, S.R., Chapin, F.S.III, Crépin, A.-S., Daily, G., Danell, K., Ebbesson, J., Elmqvist, T., Galaz, V., Moberg, F., Nilsson, M., Österblom, H., Ostrom, E., Persson, Å., Peterson, G., Polasky, S., Steffen, W., Walker, B. and F. Westly. 2011. Reconnecting to the Biosphere. – Ambio (in press).

Chapin, F.S.III., Danell, K., Elmqvist, T., Folke, C. and N. Fresco. 2007. Managing climate change impacts to enhance the resilience and sustainability of Fennoscandian forests. – Ambio 36:528-533.

Chapin, F.S. III, Berman, M., Callaghan, T.V., Convey, P., Crepin, A.-S., Danell, K., Ducklow, H., Forbes, B., Kofinas, G., McGuire, A. D., Nuttall, M., Ross, V., Young, O. and S.A. Zimov.  2006. Polar systems. Pages 717-743 - In: Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Current State and Trends, Volume 1. Millennium Assessment (eds. R. Hassan, R. Scholes and N. Ash). Island Press, Washington.

Chapin, F.S. III, Hoel, M., Carpenter, S.R., Lubchenco, J., Walker, B., Callaghan, T.V., Folke, C., Levin, S.A., Mäler, C.-G., Nilsson, C., Barret, S., Berkes, F., Crépin, A.-S., Danell, K., Rosswall, T., Starrett, D., Xepapadeas, A. and S.A. Zimov. 2006. Building resilience and adaptation to manage arctic change. – Ambio 35: 198-202.

Klein, D.R.,  Baskin, L.M., Bogoslovskaya, L.S., Danell, K., Gunn, A., Irons, D.B. ,Kofinas, G.P.,  Kovacs, K.M., Magomedova, M., Mehan, R.H., Russell, D.E. and P. Valkenburg. 2005. Management and conservation of wildlife in a changing arctic environment. – Pages 597-648 in Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.

Forbes, B.C., Fresco, N., Shvidenko, A., Danell, K. and F.S. Chapin III. 2004. Geographic variations in anthropogenic drivers that influence the vulnerability and resilience of social-ecological systems. – Ambio 33: 377-382.

Chapin, F.S. III., Peterson, G., Berkes, F., Callaghan, T.V., Angelstam, P., Apps, M., Beier, C., Bergeron, Y., Crépin, A.-S., Danell, K., Elmqvist, T., Folke, C., Forbes, B., Fresco, N., Juday, G., Nielmelä, J., Shvidenko, A. and G. Whiteman. 2004. Resilience and vulnerabiltity of northern regions to social and environmental change. – Ambio 33: 344-349.

Folke, C., Carpenter, S., Elmqvist, T., Gunderson, L., Holling, C.S., Walker, B., Bengtsson, J.,  Berkes, F., Colding, J., Danell, K., Falkenmark, M., Gordon, L., Kasperson, R., Kautsky, N., Kinzig, A., Levin, S., Mäler, K.-G., Moberg, F., Ohlsson, L., Olsson, P., Ostrom, E., Reid, W., Rockström, J., Savenije, H. & Svedin, U. 2002. Resilience and sustainable development: building capacity in a world of transformations. – International Council for Science. Series on Science for Sustainable Development 3:1-36.


Plant – animal interactions: boreal forests

Persson, I.-L., Nilsson, M.B., Pastor, J., Eriksson, T., Bergström, R. & Danell, K. 2009. Depression of belowground respiration rates at simulated high moose population densities in boreal forests. Ecology 90:2724-2733.

Persson, I.-L. , Danell, K. and R. Bergström. 2005. Different moose densities and accompanied  changes in tree morphology and browse production. – Ecological Applications 15:1296- 1305.

Persson, I.-L., Pastor, J., Danell and R. Bergström. 2005. Impact of moose population density and composition of litter in boreal forests. – Oikos 108: 297-306.

Ball, J. P., Danell, K. and P. Sunesson. 2000. Response of a herbivore community to increased food quality and quantity: An experiment with nitrogen fertiliser in the boreal forest. - Journal of Applied Ecology 37:247-255.

Shipley, L. A., Illius, A. W., Danell, K., T. Hobbs, N. and D. E. Spalinger. 1999. Predicting bite size selection of mammalian herbivores: a test of a general model of diet optimization. - Oikos 84:55-68.

Suominen, O., Danell, K. and R. Bergström. 1999. Moose, trees, and ground-living invertebrates: indirect interactions in Swedish pine forests. - Oikos 84:215-226.

Danell, K., Bergström, R. and L. Edenius. 1994. Effects of large mammalian brow¬- sers on woody plant architecture, biomass and nutrients. - Journal of Mammalogy 75: 833-844.

Hjältén, J., Danell, K. and P. Lundberg. 1993. Herbivore avoidance by association: vole and hare utilization of woody plants. - Oikos 68: 125-131.

Hjältén, J., Danell, K. and L. Ericson. 1993. Effects of simulated herbivory and in-traspecific competition on the compensatory ability of juvenile birches. – Ecology 74: 1136- 1142.

Danell, K., Niemelä, P., Varvikko, T. and T. Vuorisalo.1991. Moose browsing on  Scots pine along a gradient of plant productivity. - Ecology 72:1624-1633.

Danell, K., Edenius, L. and P. Lundberg. 1991. Herbivory and tree stand compo¬sition: moose patch use in winter. - Ecology 72:1350-1357.

Danell, K. and L. Ericson. 1990. Dynamic relations between the antler moth and meadow vegetation. - Ecology 71: 1068-1077.

Åström, M., Lundberg, P. and K. Danell. 1990. Partial prey consumption by browsers: trees as patches. - Journal of Animal Ecology 59: 287-300.

Elmqvist, T., Ericson, L., Danell, K. and A. Salomonson.1988.  Latitudinal sex ratio variation in willows (Salix spp.) and gradients in vole herbivory. - Oikos 51: 259-266.                        

Bergström, R. and K. Danell. 1987. Effects of simulated moose winter browsing on morphology and biomass of two birch species. - Journal of Ecology 75: 533-544.

Danell, K., Huss-Danell, K. and R. Bergström. 1985. Interactions between browsing moose and two species of  birch in Sweden. - Ecology 66: 1867-1878.

Danell, K. and K. Huss-Danell. 1985. Feeding by insects and hares on birches earlier affected by moose browsing. - Oikos 44: 75-81.

Plant – animal interactions: savanna

Rooke, T., Danell, K., Bergström, R., Skarpe, C. and J. Hjältén. 2004. Defence traits of savanna trees – the role of shoot exposure to browsers. – Oikos 107: 161-171. 

Skarpe, C., Bergström, R., Bråten, A. L. and K. Danell. 2000. Browsing in a heterogenous savanna. – Ecography 23: 632-640.

Bergström, R., Skarpe, C. and K. Danell. 2000. Plant responses and herbivory following simulated browsing and stem cutting of Combretum apiculatum. – Journal of Vegetation Science 11: 409-411.


Plant – animal interactions: tundra

Danell, K., Bergström, R., Edenius, L. & Ericsson, G. 2003. Ungulates as drivers of tree population dynamics. – Forest Ecology and Management 181: 67-76.

Danell, K., Berteaux, D. and K. A. Bråthen. 2002. Effect of muskox carcasses on nitrogen concentration in tundra vegetation.  – Arctic 55: 389-392.


Community ecology: insects

Hjältén, J., Johansson, T., Alinvi, O., Danell, K., Ball, J.P., Pettersson, R., Gibb, H. and J. Hilszcan´ski. 2007. The importance of substrate type, shading and scorcing for the attractiveness of dead wood to saproxylic beetles. – Basic and Applied Ecology 8:364-376.

Gibb, H., Pettersson, R.B., Hjältén, J., Hilszczanski, J., Ball, J.P., Johansson, T., Atlegrim, O.and  K. Danell. 2006. Conservation-oriented forestry and early successional saproxylic beetles: responses of functional groups to manipulated dead wood substrates. – Biological Conservation 129:437-450.


Community ecology: mammals

Danell, K. and B. Aava-Olsson. 2002. Endemic mammalian genera: Are they really unique?  -Journal of Biogeograpy 29: 457-464.

Danell, K. 1999. Ecological characteristics of mammals in the biomes of Europe. – Ecological Bulletin 47:22-29.


Population ecology

Krebs, C.J., Kenney, A.J., Gillbert, S., Danell, K., Angerbjörn, A., Erlinge, S., Bromley, R.G.,Shank, C. & Carriere, S. 2002. Synchrony in lemming and vole populations in the Canadian Arctic. – Canadian Journal of Zoology 80: 1323-1333.

Danell, K. and B. Hörnfeldt. 1987. Numerical responses by populations of red fox and mountain hare during an outbreak of sarcoptic mange among foxes. - Oecologia (Berlin) 73: 533-536.

Danell, K. 1978. Population dynamics of the muskrat in a shallow Swedish lake. - Jour¬nal of Animal Ecology 47: 697-709.


Wetland ecology

Danell, K. and K. Sjöberg. 1982. Seasonal and diel changes in the feeding behaviour of some dabbling duck species on a breeding lake in northern Sweden. – Ornis Scan¬di¬na¬vica 134: 129-134.

Danell, K. and K. Sjöberg. 1982. Successional patterns of plants, invertebrates and ducks in a man-made lake. - Journal of Applied Ecology 19: 395-409.

Danell, K. and K. Sjöberg. 1979. Decomposition of Carex and Equisetum in a northern Swedish lake: dry weight loss and colonization by macro-invertebrates. - Jour¬nal of Ecology 67: 191-200.

Danell, K. 1979. Reduction of aquatic vegetation following the colonization of a northern Swedish lake by the muskrat, Ondatra zibethica. - Oecologia (Berl.) 38: 101-106.

Danell, K. 1977. Short-term plant successions following  the colonization of a north¬ern Swedish lake by the muskrat, Ondatra zibethica. - Journal of Applied Ecology 14:  933-948.