Projects

Title: NitroScope: Scoping European N fluxes for sustainable N management and conservation practices

Duration: 01.10.2025 – 30.09.2029

Principal investigator in Estonian group: Kuno Kasak

Finance program: HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01 (Research and Innovation and other actions to support the implementation of Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’)

Annotation: Nitrogen (N) is a vital nutrient for plant growth. However, the intensive use of N fertilizers in agriculture, whereby only 30-50% of applied N is taken up by crops, has led to significant environmental challenges. Impactful losses occur through nitrate leaching to the groundwater, leading to its contamination, and through nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, a long-lasting greenhouse gas. Acknowledging the need for a coordinated effort among the four helixes of innovation (i.e. research, society, industry and policy) to unlock the necessary efforts for monitoring N fluxes and action towards reducing N losses and increasing N use efficiency, NitroScope has two major ambitions: a) improving scientific knowledge for pedo-climatic regions getting both simple region-specific emissions factors and model-based decision support and b) bringing the knowledge to land managers so that mitigation will happen. To achieve this, NitroScope will improve N flux monitoring through 125 sites spread over at least 10 pedo-climatic regions using improved proximal sensors for high throughput continuous nitrate quantification, remote sensing, and better methodology to adequately account for the variability of in-the-field N2O emissions. The data will be gathered in a database hosted on a cloud to facilitate reporting and will be used to determine region-specific emission factors and provide model-based decision support with reduced uncertainties. Based on this, improved N management and conservation solutions will be assessed, including variable rate N fertilization and crop residue management. NitroScope will further use transdisciplinary methodology, including developing 2 farm management add-ons, to inform and engage land managers to actively contribute to monitoring and managing N fluxes in Europe while improving agricultural yield and quality. Finally, this will result in a more precise EU N budget estimation and future scenarios to support decision-making.

Title: ForPeat: FORest PEATtland ecosystem assessment and targeted management for enhanced carbon sequestration, biodiversity and water quality

Duration: 1.10.25-30.09.2029

Principal investigator in Estonian group: Kuno Kasak

Finance program: HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01-08 (Horizon Europe – Mission: Soil Health and Food, Research and Innovation Action)

Annotation: The ForPeat project aims to advance science-based approaches for sustainable management and restoration of forested peatlands across Europe to enhance carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and water quality. The project establishes eight Living Labs that represent diverse climatic and ecological conditions, enabling the demonstration of nature-based management practices such as rewetting, water-level regulation, and biodiversity restoration. Core research components include: (i) quantifying carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas fluxes under different forest management and hydrological regimes, (ii) integrating remote sensing, AI, and robotic monitoring systems for continuous environmental observation, (iii) modelling nutrient and sediment dynamics to assess trade-offs between forestry, biodiversity, and carbon storage, (iv) developing decision-support tools and policy recommendations aligned with the EU Nature Restoration Law and LULUCF regulation, and (v) engaging stakeholders through a multi-actor and citizen science approach to co-create restoration strategies and financial mechanisms such as carbon farming schemes. The project adopts a holistic ecosystem perspective, linking field data with satellite observations to improve upscaling and replication potential across European peatland regions, thereby contributing to climate neutrality, biodiversity recovery, and sustainable land-use goals.

Title: Following the Nitrogen Fluxes from agricultural Losses via deposition into Wetland ecosystems causing climate impact

Duration: 1.01.2024 – 31.12.2027

Principal investigator in Estonian Group: Kuno Kasak; consortium lead: Dr. Alex Valach, Bern University of Applied Sciences 

Finance program: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)

Annotation:The aim of this project is to directly connect agricultural N losses via NH3 emissions with respective deposi-tions into a nearby wetland affecting its ecological functioning and GHG fluxes to improve our understanding of short-range NH3 impacts and develop appropriate model predictions, as well as ecosystem and climate protection measures. Project components include: (i) determining NH3 emissions from agricultural sources in relation to farm N budgets, ii) quantifying deposition along the plume to characterise the input gradient and improve flux modelling, iii) measuring net NH3 fluxes in the wetland using newly developed high frequency open-path eddy covariance in-strumentation, (iv) investigating short-term changes in ecosystem functioning following high N input episodes, and (v) relating the ecosystem processes to measured GHG fluxes and C sequestration potentials. The project uses a pro-tected inland wetland as a model system which is adapted to high N inputs and investigates short-term impacts of deposition events to understand hourly to seasonal variability in flux processes compared to annual budgets.

Title: Optimising Wetland Restoration and Management Strategies for Carbon Uptake

Duration: 1.01.2022 – 31.12.2026

Principal investigator: Kuno Kasak

Finance program: Personal research funding: Start-up grant (PSG)

Annotation: Restoring degraded peat soils is an attractive, but largely untested climate change mitigation approach. Drained peat soils used for agriculture or for peat extraction are often large greenhouse gas sources. Restoring subsided peat soils to managed, impounded wetlands can turn these sources into carbon sinks. However, at present, the amount of scientific information available to guide such restoration decisions and assess the impact of these actions is still sparse and restoration outcome can be low carbon uptake and high methane emissions. Therefore, the overarching objective of this project is to provide an experimental and theoretical understanding how to restore wetlands with minimised methane emissions and maximised carbon uptake. To develop restoration recommendations, we will analyse multiple drivers for greenhouse gas emissions including site specific hydrology, legacy effects, soil chemistry, soil microbiology, vegetation development and dynamics.

Title: REstoration of WETlands to minimise emissions and maximise carbon uptake – a strategy for long term climate mitigation

Duration: 1.10.2022–30.09.2026

Principal investigator in Estonian group: Kuno Kasak

Finance program: HORIZON-CL5-2021-D1-01

Annotation: Project will facilitate the sustainable restoration and conservation of terrestrial wetlands – freshwater wetlands, peatlands, and floodplains. To do so, REWET draws upon the network of carefully selected seven demonstrators (Open Labs ≥ 2400 ha in total) that cover a range of local conditions, geographic characteristics, governance structures and social/cultural settings to fully understand the wetlands-carbon-climate nexus and provide an replication plan to boost successful wetlands restoration throughout Europe and internationally. In the Open Labs, the most fit-for-purpose technologies will be applied for the monitoring of GHG (Eddy Covariance towers, satellite imagery, field measurements), biodiversity, and meteorological events. Furthermore, the social aspect will be analysed, by evaluating gender differences, locals, and key stakeholders acceptance. REWET has two additional strong scientific pillars: the assessment of EU wetlands status in Europe and modelling. Together with the Open Labs, they will fill out the gaps on wetlands science and provide guidance for cost-effective restoration and monitoring practices that are environmentally friendly, compatible with the future climate and provide a wide range of ecosystem services. As main outcomes, REWET will deliver a wetlands inventory with carbon sink potential, models for wetlands GHG emissions/sequestration under different scenarios including climate change, policy recommendations for wetlands restoration, sound business models and a roadmap for replication. The REWET consortium is a transdisciplinary partnership between researchers, industry partners (SME), non-profit entities, responsible agencies at the local and watershed/regional level and one international organisation, dedicated to achieving the desired outcomes of the project.

Title: Water-based solutions for carbon storage, people and wilderness

Duration: 1.12.2021–30.11.2026

Principal investigator: Marko Kohv. Kuno Kasak responsible for micrometeorological measurements over restored peatlands. 

Finance program: Horizon 2020 Programme

Annotation: Wetlands provide vital but often overlooked services, and are also some of the most degraded ecosystems on the planet. The aim of this project is to investigate the combination of factors which will permit the upscaling of wetland restoration across Europe. The project will be directed by the need to engage with multiple stakeholders to fully understand their needs and then to identify the governance structures and financing required to support these goals. To provide for this engagement, the project will examine the range of ecosystem services that wetlands currently provide, and what they could potentially provide, and the spatial and social distribution of these services. To understand the costs and practicalities of this, the project will also examine the combination of the ecological and hydrological conditions needed to upscale the restoration of a range of wetland types across Europe, drawing on existing experience to explore novel approaches that provide the capacity to sustain environmental conditions and maintain resilience in the context of climate change. By addressing stakeholders and ecology together, the project will determine the implications of transitioning away from existing uses (where relevant), the potential for replacement activities, and the requirements for environmental, economic and social sustainability. By doing so, this project aims to design, test and mobilise a new paradigm for scalable restoration of wetlands and the services they provide.

Title: Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Land Use

Duration: 1.1.2024–31.12.2030

Principal investigator: Evelyn Uuemaa. Kuno Kasak is responsible for collecting CO₂ and CH₄ flux data, analyzing the main drivers for CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes and analyzing the FLUXNET eddy covariance datasets across the globe for CO₂ and CH₄ emissions

Finance program: Estonian Research Council

Annotation: FutureScapes focuses on developing innovative solutions to address biodiversity loss and climate change. The main goals are to identify complex interconnections and co-benefits of biodiversity and carbon stocks and fluxes and to integrate this new knowledge into high-resolution, large-scale spatial models that can be used to produce robust, feasible scenarios and decision-support tools for land use planning. We will identify, analyze and link quantitatively the complex relationships between biodiversity patterns/functions, ecosystem carbon storage, sequestration and greenhouse gas emission from local to national level. By using geospatial data (incl. satellite data) and machine learning based spatial modelling, we will upscale the knowledge and relationships to regional level and implement in spatially explicit land use planning and management, considering the socioeconomic fabric of landowners and land users

Completed Project

Title: The impact of drainage ditch reconstruction works to water quality in well drained peatland forests and efficiency of water protection measures to prevent pollution

Duration: 01.08.2022 – 31.07.2025

Principal investigator: Kuno Kasak

Finance program: Estonian State Forest Management Centre

Annotation: The main goal of this project is to understand how reconstruction works of drainage ditches in well drained peatland forests affect water quality and which water protection measures have the highest efficiency to improve the water quality. The two water protections measures that are analysed in depth are sedimentation ponds and hybrid systems where sedimentation pond is combined with treatment wetland.