Betty Ehnvall

High latitude peatlands cover only 3 % of the global land area, yet store up to 30 % of the total soil carbon. In addition to their vital role in the global carbon budget, these ecosystems regulate hydrological and biogeochemical cycles in the boreal landscape. The objective of my research is to quantify landscape controls on vital mire patterns and properties, including mire nutrient regime, plant productivity and peat growth. 

I focus on minerotrophic mires in the Sävar Rising Coastline Mire Chronosequence (SMC). The SMC is located in the coastal area north of Umeå, Sweden. In this region, new land is continuously rising from the sea due to strong isostatic rebound (ca 9 mm/year), which has formed a unique natural mire chronosequence that enable studies at the landscape level. 

Interactive map of the Sävar Rising Coastline mire Chronosequence (SMC) https://slughg.github.io/MiresChrono/

Ehnvall, B., Ratcliffe, J. L., Nilsson, M. B., Öquist, M. G., Sponseller, R. A., & Grabs, T. (2024). Topography and time shape mire morphometry and large‐scale mire distribution patterns in the Northern boreal landscape. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 129(2), e2023JF007324.

Ehnvall, B., Ratcliffe, J. L., Bohlin, E., Nilsson, M. B., Öquist, M. G., Sponseller, R. A., & Grabs, T. (2023). Landscape constraints on mire lateral expansion. Quaternary Science Reviews, 302, 107961.

Ehnvall, B., Ågren, A.M., Nilsson, M.B., Ratcliffe, J.L., Noumonvi, K.D., Peichl, M., Lidberg, W., Giesler, R., Mörth, C.-M., Öquist, M.G. (2023). Catchment characteristics control boreal mire nutrient regime and vegetation patterns over ~5000 years of landscape development. Science of the Total Environment 165132

Ehnvall, B. (2023). Catchment controls on mire properties in the post-glacial landscape (doctoral thesis)

2017  MSc in Soil Science (Soil and Water Management, Swedish University of            Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala): Organic Matter Properties and Their Relation to Phosphorus and Nitrogen Concentrations in Swedish Agricultural Streams

2015  MSc in Biology (Environmental Biology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki): Acidity caused nitrous oxide reductase inhibition and its impact on nitrous oxide emissions from acid sulfate soils, in Swedish

2013  Exchange studies (University College Cork, Cork)

2013  BSc in Biology (University of Helsinki, Helsinki)