Department of Ecology

Climate change, biodiversity loss and competition for land are putting growing pressure on ecosystems – and on us, who depend on them. Ecological knowledge has never been more vital than it is today. We develop solutions for sustainable agriculture and forestry, plant protection with fewer toxins and effective conservation and wildlife management.

  • The Nordic region's largest centre for ecological research
  • Deep knowledge of insects, wildlife and soil organisms
  • A strong focus on interdisciplinary research and working closely with society

Research

We develop ecological theories in order to understand how the world works. Our research is used within wildlife management, nature conservation, forestry and agriculture.

SLU Grimsö Wildlife Research Station

All year round, researchers and field staff at the SLU Grimsö Research Station work with monitoring, research and teaching och about wild animals.

International setting

We have doctoral students and researchers from around the globe. Our employees conduct field studies in places such as Greenland, Mongolia, Brazil and Rwanda. We collaborate with researchers from the entire world.

About us

Here you will find contact information and an overview of the department's work in research, environmental analysis, teaching, and collaboration.

News & Events

News

  • 2025-08-15

    Researchers traced butterfly color patterns back in time

    Müllerian mimicry is a mutualistic strategy where species benefit from sharing a warning signal by enhancing predator learning thus reducing the risk of attacks on all species involved. Researchers at SLU have now studied how these color patterns have evolved in a group of butterflies
  • 2025-08-11

    Forest management can reduce the risk of large wildfires

    Increasing landscape heterogeneity by reducing forest stand size and diversifying tree species lowers the likelihood of fire spreading. Avoiding ditching is also beneficial.
  • 2025-06-19

    SLU and the forest sector in new collaboration to train future experts

    SLU is now announcing eight new PhD positions as part of a collaboration with the forest sector. The positions are part of the research programme Wallenberg Initiatives in Forest Research (WIFORCE), aimed at meeting future knowledge needs for the sustainable management and conservation of forests.
More news

Calendar

More from SLU´s calendar
Research

Research projects

  • 2025-07-11

    Economics, policy and food systems transformation

    The Bommarco lab explores how diversified farming affects farm economy, how it can be developed and promoted in food value chains and food systems. We explore how biodiversity and ecosystem services, especially pollinators and pollination, are discussed and integrated in policy.
  • 2025-07-11

    Ecological functions in agroecosystems

    The Bommarco lab empirically and theoretically explores ecosystem functions in insect-plant-soil food webs in agricultural ecosystems. We apply this to crop production, pest control and pollination.
  • 2025-07-11

    Diversified cropping

    The Bommarco lab analyses how diversified farming affects crop yield and ecosystem functions in crop production and cropped landscapes. We assess options for adaptation and mitigation of climate change and biodiversity decline.
To SLU´s research catalogue

Research groups

  • 2025-06-16

    Biodiversity and biocontrol lab

    We perform research on biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. We study the links between biodiversity, food-web structure and service provisioning, and how farming practices and land use at different scales can be modified to support ecosystem services.
  • 2025-06-16

    Ninkovic lab

    Plants can communicate with each other in different ways including chemical signalling. The aim of our research is to develop sustainable crop protection strategies based understanding of the interactions between plants, insects and their natural enemies.
  • 2025-06-16

    Bommarco lab

    We study insect and plant ecology in agriculture. We explore how farming practices, land use and climate affect biodiversity and ecosystem functions. We participate in interdisciplinary research on economy policy and transformations of agriculture and food systems.
To SLU´s research catalogue