Kevo Subarctic Research Station

Station name and owner

The Kevo Subarctic Research Station is managed by the Kevo Subarctic Research Institute which is based at the University of Turku.

Location

Kevo Subarctic Research Station is located in Utsjoki at the northernmost tip of Finland only about hundred kilometres from the coast of the Arctic Ocean (69°45’ N, 27°01’ E) right next to Kevo Strict Nature Reserve (712 km2). It lies about 60 km north of the continuous pine forest line and belongs to the subarctic Mountain Birch Forest Zone close to both the local pine tree line and the birch tree line at the forest-tundra ecotone.

Climate data

Grey colours are WMO Climate Normals including maximum and minimum values. Blue colours are individual years.

Climate data for the stations where extracted via Copernicus Climate Data Store, from the global gridded reanalysis product: ERA5 monthly averaged data on single levels from 1940 to present. Description and source code: Roemer J.K. 2023. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10214922 Data Source: Hersbach et al. 2023. Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS), https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.f17050d7

Biodiversity and natural environment

The station is close to a wide range of ecosystems from pine stands at low altitudes to mountain birch forests and low alpine tundra as well as mires (also palsas), lakes, and rivers. Several large-scale outbreaks of birch feeding moth larvae are characteristic for the birch forests. The latest outbreak in 2005-2009 destroyed about 400 km2 of the treeline birch forests in Utsjoki. Grazing by semi-domesticated reindeer is another important factor that shapes the ecosystems. The area is part of the basin of the river Teno/Tana which is one of the top salmon rivers in Europe.

History and facilities

The station was founded in 1958. The station, including a weather station of Finnish Meteorological Institute, consists of several buildings. It has the capacity to accommodate about 50 guests. It is open year-round. The station provides laboratories, a workshop, a lecture hall, and accommodation buildings. During recent years the station has had about 100 Finnish and 70 foreign visiting scientists each year.

General research and databases

Kevo Subarctic Research Station has got a long tradition in manipulative experiments addressing cause-effect relationships of anthropogenic environmental changes. In ecological science it is known for the research on plant herbivore interactions and in geographical science for research on palsa mires. There are long-term field experiments studying the effects of aerial pollutants and the impacts of reindeer grazing. The station has got arboretums with different origins of arctic treeline species. There is monitoring data available on population dynamics of moths, rodents, birds, plant phenology, pollen deposits, and meteorological data. The station also holds up to 50-year old bio-geographical mapping data of the surrounding area.

Link to data: https://dataportal.eu-interact.org/stations

Station Monitoring

• Climate
  • Meteorology
    • Air temperature
    • Air humidity
    • Air pressure
    • Wind velocity
    • Wind direction
    • Precipitation
  • Energy balance and radiation
    • Energy balance
    • Net radiation
    • Cloud cover/hours of sunshine
• Geo
  • Geology/Geomorphology
    • Sedimentology
  • Geophysics and Geodesy
    • Gravity
    • Magnetic field
    • Aurora
    • Seismic activity
  • Sub-surface characteristics
    • Ground surface temperature
    • Soil temperature
    • Active layer depth
    • Permafrost temperature
  • Snow characteristics
    • Snow depth
  • Atmospheric composition
    • CO₂ concentration
  • Energy budget
    • Net radiation
    • Sensible heat flux
    • Soil heat flux
  • Hydrology/Limnology
    • River water discharge/water level
    • Lake water level
    • Water temperature
    • Lake ice cover (formation/breakup/thickness)
    • Water chemistry
  • Pollution
    • In air
    • In water
• Bio
  • Vegetation
    • Flowering phenology
    • NDVI (plot/transect)
    • Fungi community composition
    • Berry production
    • Aerobiological monitoring (pollen, spores, etc.)
    • Species list (community composition)
  • Arthropods
    • Abundance
    • Insect herbivory
    • Species list (community composition)
  • Birds
    • Phenology
    • Nest initiation phenology
    • Species list (community composition)
  • Mammals
    • Mammal abundance
    • Species list (community composition)
  • Pollution
    • Pollution measurements in water

Human dimension

Utsjoki is the only municipality in Finland with Sámi majority for whom the traditional reindeer herding and fishing are still important livelihoods, even though it is in general a normal modern community with modern services. In Utsjoki village (18 km north of Kevo) there are grocery shops, a post office, a library, a swimming hall, accommodation providers, pubs, a bank, and a health centre. Anthropological, sociological, and archaeological studies on the local community have been managed by the research station.

Access

The station is located close to a main road and can be reached by car. Access to the station is across Lake Kevojärvi (250 m, in summer by boat and in winter over the ice) or via a small road (5 km). The closest airport in Finland is in Ivalo with a bus connection from Ivalo to Kevo (c. 150 km). There are also airports in Norway at about the same distance (Lakselv, Vadsø, Kirkenes). Alternatively, a train connection exists from southern Finland to Rovaniemi followed by a bus trip via Ivalo to Kevo (450 km).