Potentiality of geodiversity in biodiversity modelling

Research themes

A long-term challenge in biodiversity research has been the establishment of robust methods for cost-effective targeting of conservation actions. The concept of geodiversity has recently been expressed as a novel complementary and potentially useful means to explore biodiversity. Our fundamental goal is to promote biodiversity monitoring by examining geodiversity and its relationship to biodiversity in boreal and subarctic landscapes. This research may produce answers to several scientifically important questions in geodiversity mapping and biodiversity assessment by revealing the most suitable measures of geodiversity for biodiversity assessments, and by improving the performance and robustness of biodiversity models.

The main objectives:

• To develop a methodology to map and measure geodiversity
• To scrutinize the potentiality of measures of geodiversity in predicting biodiversity patterns
• To explore the shapes of the relationship between biodiversity and geodiversit

Staff

Professor PhD Jan Hjort (University of Oulu, Department of Geography)
Professor PhD Miska Luoto (University of Helsinki, Department of Geography)
PhD Niklaus E. Zimmermann (Head of Research Unit Landscape Dynamics; Swiss Federal Research Institute, Switzerland)
PhD John Gordon (Policy & Advice Manager, Scottish Natural Heritage, Edinburgh, Scotland;
Honorary Professor, School of Geography & Geosciences, University of St Andrews, Scotland)
Senior researcher PhD Risto K. Heikkinen (Finnish Environment Institute)
Researcher MSc Helena Tukiainen (University of Oulu, Department of Geography)

Main publications

• Hjort, J., Luoto, M. (submitted). Can geodiversity be predicted from space?

• Hjort, J., Heikkinen, R.K., Luoto, M. (submitted). Inclusion of explicit measures of geodiversity improve biodiversity models across boreal vegetation zone.

• Hjort, J. & M. Luoto (2010). Geodiversity of high-latitude landscapes in northern Finland. Geomorphology 115, 109–116.