Maria Hällfors

In my research I am interested in species’ abilities to cope with climate change. By using long-term data and experiments, I try to figure out what kind of species are able to shift their ranges or their phenology, or even adapt evolutionary, in order to stay within their suitable niches. I conduct research on the interactive effects of land use and climate change, spatial connectivity, and biodiversity footprints. I also supervise doctoral researchers on these topics. 

I am interested in understanding species’ abilities to cope with climate change. By using long-term data and experiments, I try to figure out what kind of species are able to shift their ranges or their phenology, or even adapt evolutionary, in order to stay within their suitable niches. I also conduct research on the interactive effects of land use and climate change, spatial connectivity, and biodiversity footprints and supervise doctoral researchers on these topics.

I did my doctoral thesis at the Botany Unit of the Finnish Museum of Natural History, looking into a novel approach in the conservation of species, called assisted migration. I defended my thesis in 2016 and thereafter spent 1.5 years on family leave. In January 2018, I joined the Research Centre for Ecological Change (REC) at the University of Helsinki as a postdoc to investigate the effects of global change on populations and ecosystems. In REC, I had the opportunity to use a variety of existing long-term data for investigating questions on the effects of global change on species. I gained extensive experience in combining and refining different data sets, sometimes containing millions of records. This work familiarized me with the numerous valuable long-term data sets available in Finland and the methodology to utilize such big data. 

In 2020, I received a three-year postdoctoral grant from the Research Council of Finland. In the project I combined my expertise in utilizing long-term data and common garden experiments to study the role of evolution in climate change responses.

As of May 2022 I work as Senior Researcher at the Nature Solutions unit of the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke). In Syke, I continue to work on climate change effects on biodiversity but in addition, I do research on topics such as interactive effects of land use with climate change, spatial connectivity, and biodiversity footprints. I am currently Research Fellow of the Research Council of Finland, leading a project on combining methods for jointly studying phenological and range shifts caused by climate change. In addition, I am PI in the consortium MUST (Enabling multispecies transitions of cities and regions) funded by the Strategic Research Council, co-coordinate the Horizon Europe funded project OBSGESSION and function as co-task leader in NaturaConnect.

Cherish the biodiversity of nature!

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Selected publications (<5yrs; updated April 2025)

D’Alessio, A., Fornarini, C., Fernandez, N.  Namasivayam, A.S, Visconti, P., Dertien, J., Hällfors, M., (+9 authors) & Rondini, C. (2025). Narratives for Positive Nature Futures in Europe. Environmental Management. 

Raymond, C. M., Rautio, P., Fagerholm, N., Aaltonen, V. A., Andersson, E., Celermajer, D., Christie, M., Hällfors, M., Saari, M. H., Mishra, H. S., Lechner, A. M., Pineda-Pinto, M., & Schlosberg, D. (2025). Applying multispecies justice in nature-based solutions and urban sustainability planning: Tensions and prospects. Npj Urban Sustainability, 5(1), 2. 

Hällfors M.H., Vaara E.M., Ahteensuu M.T., Kokko K.T., Oksanen M., Schulman L.E. (2024). Assisted Migration as a Conservation Approach Under Climate Change. Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene: Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, 2024. Elsevier. 

Mattila A.L.K., Opedal Ø.H., Hällfors M.H., Pietikäinen L., Koivusaari S.H.M. and Hyvärinen M.-T. (2024): The potential for evolutionary rescue in an Arctic seashore plant threatened by climate change. Proc. R. Soc. B. 29120241351 

Kotilainen, A., Mattila, A.L.K., Møller, C., Koivusaari, S., Hyvärinen, M.-T., & Hällfors, M.H. (2024). Higher thermal plasticity in flowering phenology increases flowering output. Ecology and Evolution, 14, e11657. 

Hällfors M.H., Heikkinen R.H., Kuussaari M., Lehikoinen A., Luoto M., Pöyry J., Virkkala R., Saastamoinen M., and Kujala H. (2024): Recent range shifts of moths, butterflies, and birds are driven by the breadth of their climatic niche. Evolution Letters, qrad004 

Urban M.C., Swaegers, J., Stoks, R., Snook, R.R., Otto, S.P., Noble, D.W.A., Moiron, M., Hällfors, M., (+10 authors) & Teplitsky, C. (2024): When and how can we predict adaptive responses to climate change? Evolution Letters, qrad038 

Lehikoinen A., & Hällfors M. 2024: Miten Suomen luonto sopeutuu muuttuvaan ilmastoon. Chapter in popular book: Mitä ilmasto muuttaa? Gaudeamus, Helsinki. ISBN 9789523452862

Santangeli A. Weigel, B., Antão, L, Kaarlejärvi E., Hällfors M., (+9 authors) & Saastamoinen, M. (2023): Mixed effects of a national protected area network on terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity. Nature Communications, 14: 5426. 

Thorogood, R., Mustonen, V., Aleixo, A., Aphalo, P.J., Asiegbu, F.O., Cabeza, M., Cairns, J., Candolin, U., Cardoso, P., Eronen, J.T., Hällfors, M., (+13 authors) & Vanhatalo, J. (2023): Understanding and applying biological resilience, from genes to ecosystems. npj Biodiversity 2, 16 (2023). 

Suppula, M., Hällfors, M.H., Aapala, K., Aalto, J., Kemppainen, E., Leikola, N., Pirinen, P., and Heikkinen, R.K. (2023) Climate and land-use change drive population decline in a red-listed plant species. Global Ecology and Conservation 45: e02526. 

Suppula, M., Hällfors, M.H., Aapala, K., Aalto, J., Kemppainen, E., Leikola, N., Pirinen, P., and    Heikkinen, R.K. (2023) Climate and land-use change drive population decline in a red-listed plant species. Global Ecology and Conservation 45: e02526. 

Pilli-Sihvola, K., Halonen, J., Meriläinen, P., Laapas, M., Ruuhela, R., Munck af Rosenschöld, J., Hällfors, M., Knuuti, S., Sorvali, J. (2023). Ilmastonmuutokseen liittyvät riskit ja haavoittuvuudet Suomessa: Tarkastelu kansallisen ilmastonmuutoksen sopeutumissuunnitelman 2030 taustaksi. [In Finnish with abstract in English; Risks and Vulnerabilities Related to Climate Change in Finland Background study for the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2030]. Publications of the Finnish Government.

Hällfors, M. (2022). The impact of climate change on species in Finland. Memoranda Societatis Pro Fauna Et Flora Fennica, 98(Supplement 2), 17–26. 

Antão L.H., Weigel B., Strona G., Hällfors M., (+21 authors), Laine A.-L. (2022): Climate Change reshuffles northern species within their niches. Nature Climate Change 12: 587–592 (2022) 

Hällfors, M., & Dalrymple, S. (2022). Assisted Colonisation and Ecological Replacement. In M. Gaywood, J. Ewen, P. Hollingsworth, & A. Moehrenschlager (Eds.), Conservation Translocations (Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation, pp. 331-353). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Hällfors M.H., Pöyry J., Heliölä J., Kohonen I., Kuussaari M., Leinonen R., Schmucki R., Sihvonen P., and Saastamoinen M. (2021): Combining range and phenology shifts offers a winning strategy for boreal Lepidoptera. Ecology Letters 24(8): 1619-1632. 

Roslin T., Antão L., Hällfors M., (+201 authors), Ovaskainen O. (2021): Phenological shifts of abiotic events, producers and consumers across a continent. Nature Climate Change. 

Hällfors M.H., Lehvävirta S., Aandahl T.R., Lehtimäki I., Nilsson L.O., Ruotsalainen A.-L., Schulman L.E., Hyvärinen M.T. (2020). Translocation of an arctic seashore plant reveals signs of maladaptation to altered climatic conditions. PeerJ 8:e10357 

Hällfors M.H., Antão L.H., Itter M., Lehikoinen A., Lindholm T., Roslin T., Saastamoinen M. (2020):  Shifts in timing and duration of breeding for 73 boreal bird species over four decades. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117 (31): 18577-18565. 

Nordén J., Abrego N., Boddy L., Bässler C., Dahlberg A., Halme P., Hällfors M., Maurice S. Menkis A., Miettinen O., Mäkipää R., Ovaskainen O., Penttilä R, Saine S., Snäll T., and Junninen K. (2020). Ten principles for conservation translocations of threatened wood-inhabiting fungi. Fungal Ecology 44, 100919