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
News & Events

News

  • 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.
  • 2025-06-18

    Help SLU find wild honey bees this summer

    Are there still wild honeybee colonies in Sweden and Europe? If so, how do they survive the dreaded Varroa mite? These are some of the questions that researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) would like to answer, with the help of citizen scientists and beekeepers.
  • 2025-06-16

    Prescribed burns most effective in dry conditions

    Prescribed forest burning is often conducted in spring when the ground is moist, but a new PhD thesis from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) shows they are most beneficial for biodiversity during dry conditions.

Calendar

Research

Research projects

  • 2025-06-13

    Spectro

    It has long been hypothesized that species in tropical regions, with their high biodiversity, should have more specialized interactions — an idea known as the latitudinal specialisation gradient. However, this hypothesis remains the subject of ongoing debate.
  • 2025-06-16

    Multifunctional crop production systems

    To position agriculture within planetary boundaries requires a redesign of crop production systems for multifunctionality, i.e., managing for production of food and feed, as well as for environmental protection, fertility, climate mitigation and adaptation and farm economy.
  • 2025-06-16

    Effect of land use on insect ecology

    Information on the impacts of land-use on insect diversity and abundances is essential to manage insect biodiversity. In our research we investigate how local and landscape scale management affect insects in agricultural systems.

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.