Overview

Archipelago Research Institute (ARI) belongs to the Biodiversity Unit of the University of Turku (UTU). ARI is located on an island in the middle region of the northern Baltic Archipelago Sea. The Institute participates in multidisciplinary research of the Baltic Sea, with a special focus on the Archipelago Sea. Since its foundation in 1964, ARI has conducted long-term environmental monitoring and offers various research services for researchers, students and course participants. Research at ARI comprises of projects studying, for example, the biological and geological condition of the Archipelago Sea, and the island's historical background as a hospital island for people suffering from leprosy and mental illnesses. ARI provides TA services for ASSEMBLE Plus, for which the University of Helsinki (UH) is the Finnish partner.

Ecosystems

• Baltic Sea ecosystems (brackish water ecosystems characterised by vast archipelagos with high habitat complexity)

 

Ecosystem access

• Coastal research vessels (On-site service)
  • Finnish open sea, Seili, Archipelago
  • Research vessel R/V Aurelia (18.1 m), suitable for entering shallow coastal areas
  • Five smaller boats such as Seili 5 (10.5 m) and Seili 1 (8.05 m)
• Sampling equiment (On-site service)
  • All vessels come with sampling equiment (e.g. water samplers, plankton nets, microscopes, sediment corers and grabs, CTD and side scan sonar) 
• Scuba diving facilities (On-site service)
  • Finnish open sea, Seili, Archipelago
• Ski-doo and Ice-skinner available

Experimental facilities 

• Aquaria and tanks  (On-site service)
  • Marine experimental ecology infrastructure with flow-through aquaria and indoor and outdoor mesocosm facilities
• Dry labs and Wet labs (On-site service)
  • Suitable for running ecological experiments
  • Seawater (6 PSU) is supplied to the laboratories via pipes
  • Standard sampling and laboratory equipment for marine research

 

Technology platforms (On-site service)

• Imaging (On-site service)
  • Optical microscopy for Baltic sea zooplankton analysis and ZooScan

 

E-services

• Data sets (Remote service)
  • Environmental and at-sea monitoring from the Päiväluoto sampling station in Seili.
  • Osprey nests
  • Seili weather station
  • Zooplankton monitoring samples since 1966, with corresponding temperature and salinity data

 

Expert advice

• Biological sample identification (On-site service)
  • Sample identification of Baltic Sea zooplankton and benthic fauna

 

Supporting facilities

• Library services (On-site service)
• In-house lodging (On-site service)
• In-house catering (On-site service)

 

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The station is operational all year around. Accommodation and restaurant services at Seili are available through a travel company Skärgårdskompaniet Oy Ab. ARI also offers cabin accommodation for small research groups in the neighboring islands.