We connect basic science with practice and create evidence-based management guidelines to help maintain and restore soil biodiversity.
We are interested in patterns of soil biodiversity and its variation in natural and human-influenced systems. Our special focus is on fungi, including mycorrhizal fungi, but also bacteria, greenhouse gases and agricultural land-use.
NEWS
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Tanel Vahter started his postdoc studies at the University of Helsinki
We are excited to announce that Tanel has started a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie program at the University of Helsinki, where he works in the Spatial Foodweb Ecology group led by Professor Tomas Roslin. His postdoctoral fellowship will last from 2025 to 2027. Tanel’s research in Helsinki focuses on how past land […]
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Estonian Mycological Society Fungal Foray 2025
Last weekend (26–28 September 2025), members of the Estonian Mycological Society and invited participants gathered for the annual autumn fungal foray, exploring diverse landscapes in Lääne-Viru County (Virumaa). The program began Friday at Pajuveski village, with visits to the Vainupea coastal dunes and Eisma pine forest, followed by an evening mushroom quiz. Saturday featured excursions […]
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Soil Ecology team at the conference on Societal Responses to Environmental Crises and Energy Transitions
Soil Ecology Work Group sociology partners participated in ESA RN12 ‘Environment and Society’ mid-term and Energy and Society Network 7th international joint conference “Societal Responses to Environmental Crises and Energy Transitions” in lovely Kaunas, Lithuania 24-25 September, 2025. Eveli Neemre and Maie Kiisel spoke about how agricultural land users respond to polycrisis and the corresponding […]
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A Thrilling Start to the New Academic Year for the Soil Ecology Working Group!
The new school year has kicked off with great energy and enthusiasm for the Soil Ecology Working Group! Alongside our ongoing research initiatives, we are proud to celebrate the academic progression of three of our dedicated team members at the University of Tartu. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and excited to see how […]
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Our Team Explored Subarctic Ecosystems in Northern Finland and Norway
From September 5-10, 2025, Prof Maarja Öpik, Tanel Vahter, and Inga Hiiesalu-Vahter joined plant ecology colleagues on a scientific expedition to Northern Finland and Norway to deepen their understanding of subarctic ecosystems. The team visited the University of Turku’s Kevo Research Station, where some previous mycorrhizal studies took place, and examined vegetation type changes along […]
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New Phytologist Editor-in-Chief Symposium. Microbes as hidden or prominent players in plant life.
From July 8–10, 2025, more than 120 researchers gathered in Tartu for the symposium “Microbes as Hidden or Prominent Players in Plant Life.” Participants came from every continent, and their talks and posters explored the diverse ways in which microbes influence plants. Over the course of three days, the symposium highlighted New Phytologist’s scope as […]
Soil Ecology
Who lives in the soil? What is their role there? How do they interact with each other?
How do management and natural disturbances affect soil organisms?
These are questions that the Soil ecology workgroup at the University of Tartu is investigating.
Our special focus is on fungi, including mycorrhizal fungi, but also bacteria, greenhouse gases and agricultural land-use. We are interested in patterns of soil biodiversity and its variation in natural systems such as grasslands and forests, and in human-influenced systems such as arable fields and disturbed areas.
We connect basic science with practice and create evidence-based management guidelines to help maintain and restore soil biodiversity. The soil is alive and the soil biota within it is what keeps the soil, plants and entire ecosystems functioning.