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Ecology and Evolution
Finland
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
70
Citations
32909
World Ranking
1339
National Ranking
14

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Finland Leader Award

Overview

Heikki Setälä is affiliated with the University of Helsinki in Finland and specializes in research primarily within the fields of Environmental Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences. Their work spans various subfields including Plant Science, Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis, as well as Nature and Landscape Conservation.

Their research covers numerous topics, predominantly focusing on Land Use and Ecosystem Services, Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Urban Green Space and Health, Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics, Gut Microbiota and Health, Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies, and Plant Responses to Elevated CO2.

Setälä has contributed to multiple scientific papers published in several notable venues. Frequent publication outlets include:

  • The Science of The Total Environment
  • Urban forestry & urban greening
  • Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
  • Applied Soil Ecology
  • Environmental Pollution

Recent papers by Setälä include:

  • The Benefits and Limits of Urban Tree Planting for Environmental and Human Health (2021) in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
  • Quantifying Carbon Stocks in Urban Parks under Cold Climate Conditions (2020) in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
  • A Global Database of Soil Nematode Abundance and Functional Group Composition (2020) in Scientific Data
  • The Ability of Selected Filter Materials in Removing Nutrients, Metals, and Microplastics from Stormwater in Biofilter Structures (2021) in Journal of Environmental Quality
  • Evergreen Trees Stimulate Carbon Accumulation in Urban Soils via High Root Production and Slow Litter Decomposition (2021) in The Science of The Total Environment

Throughout their career, Setälä has collaborated frequently with several scientists, including:

  • D. Johan Kotze
  • Nan Hui
  • Changyi Lu
  • Ari Jumpponen
  • Bang-Xiao Zheng

Best Publications

  • EFFECTS OF BIODIVERSITY ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING: A CONSENSUS OF CURRENT KNOWLEDGE

    D. U. Hooper;F. S. Chapin;J. J. Ewel;A. Hector

  • Ecological linkages between aboveground and belowground biota.

    David A. Wardle;David A. Wardle;Richard D. Bardgett;John N. Klironomos;Heikki Setälä

  • Soil nematode abundance and functional group composition at a global scale

    Johan van den Hoogen;Stefan Geisen;Devin Routh;Howard Ferris

  • Intensive agriculture reduces soil biodiversity across Europe

    Maria A. Tsiafouli;Elisa Thébault;Stefanos P. Sgardelis;Peter C. de Ruiter

  • Benefits of restoring ecosystem services in urban areas

    Thomas Elmqvist;Heikki Martti Setälä;SN Handel;S van der Ploeg

  • Soil food web properties explain ecosystem services across European land use systems

    Franciska T. de Vries;Franciska T. de Vries;Elisa Thébault;Elisa Thébault;Mira Liiri;Klaus Birkhofer

  • Long-term organic farming fosters below and aboveground biota: Implications for soil quality, biological control and productivity

    Klaus Birkhofer;T. Martijn Bezemer;Jaap Bloem;Michael Bonkowski

  • Land use alters the resistance and resilience of soil food webs to drought

    Franciska T. de Vries;Mira E. Liiri;Lisa Bjørnlund;Matthew A. Bowker

  • Impacts of Soil Faunal Community Composition on Model Grassland Ecosystems

    M. A. Bradford;T. H. Jones;Richard D. Bardgett;Helaina I. J. Black

  • Decomposition rate of organic substrates in relation to the species diversity of soil saprophytic fungi

    Heikki Setälä;Mary Ann McLean

  • TOP-DOWN IS BOTTOM-UP: DOES PREDATION IN THE RHIZOSPHERE REGULATE ABOVEGROUND DYNAMICS?

    John C. Moore;Kevin McCann;Heikki Setälä;Peter C. De Ruiter

  • Sensitivity of Primary Production to Changes in the Architecture of Belowground Food Webs

    Jouni Laakso;Heikki Setala

  • Soil Fauna Increase Betula Pendula Growth: Laboratory Experiments With Coniferous Forest Floor

    Heikki Setala;Veikko Huhta

  • NO EVIDENCE OF TROPHIC CASCADES IN AN EXPERIMENTAL MICROBIAL-BASED SOIL FOOD WEB

    Juha Mikola;Heikki Setälä

  • Does urban vegetation mitigate air pollution in northern conditions

    Heikki Martti Setälä;Viljami Viippola;Anna-Lea Rantalainen;Arto Pennanen

  • Multitrophic interactions in decomposer food-webs

    Stefan Scheu;Heikki Setälä

  • Discontinuity in the responses of ecosystem processes and multifunctionality to altered soil community composition

    Mark A. Bradford;Stephen A. Wood;Richard D. Bardgett;Helaina I. J. Black

  • Divergent composition but similar function of soil food webs of individual plants: plant species and community effects

    T. M. Bezemer;M. T. Fountain;J. M. Barea;S. Christensen

  • The Benefits and Limits of Urban Tree Planting for Environmental and Human Health

    Diane E. Pataki;Marina Alberti;Mary L. Cadenasso;Alexander J. Felson

  • Defoliation and patchy nutrient return drive grazing effects on plant and soil properties in a dairy cow pasture

    Juha Mikola;Heikki Setälä;P Virkajärvi;K Saarijärvi

  • Relating species diversity to ecosystem functioning : mechanistic backgrounds and experimental approach with a decomposer food web

    Juha Mikola;Heikki Setälä

  • Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a consensus of current knowledge: Ecological Monog

    David Hooper;F. Stuart Chapin;John J. Ewel;Andy Hector

Frequent Co-Authors

Martin Romantschuk
Martin Romantschuk University of Helsinki
Juha Mikola
Juha Mikola Natural Resources Institute Finland
D. Johan Kotze
D. Johan Kotze University of Helsinki
Richard D. Bardgett
Richard D. Bardgett Lancaster University
Harri Koivusalo
Harri Koivusalo Aalto University
Hannu Fritze
Hannu Fritze Natural Resources Institute Finland
David A. Wardle
David A. Wardle Umeå University
Ari Jumpponen
Ari Jumpponen Kansas State University
Taina Pennanen
Taina Pennanen Finnish Forest Research Institute
Katarina Hedlund
Katarina Hedlund Lund University

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