Peatland ecology and peatland forestry have been studied and taught at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, since the 1920’s. There was even a small independent department “Peatland Forestry” until 1992. As of 2010, these disciplines are included in the Department of Forest Sciences.
During the early years the main focus of the research was in peatland forestry. However, a sound understanding of peatland ecology and classification has always been emphasized, since also for foresters it is important to know the ecohydrology of mires as the basis for forest production. The growth and nutrition of peatland forests is still an important research theme and will likely remain so in the future. The role of peatland forests as a source of bioenergy may also increase in the future, which calls for research into the ecological effects of fuel harvesting.
During the latest 20 years the ecology of peatlands has come increasingly into focus, and nowadays most of the research is done within the theme of peatland ecology. Main topics of the ecological research include primary production and organic matter decomposition, carbon gas dynamics, and microbial communities in pristine, drained, and/or restored peatlands, development history of mires during the Holocene, as well as restoration of drained and harvested peatlands. Besides boreal peatlands, the research has been extended to the tropical peat swamp forests in SE Asia.