One of the main reasons for the massive loss in plant species diversity is the fragmentation of habitats. In Europe, open pastures and meadows are the habitats going through the most changes during the 20th century, according to the agricultural changes. In this study vascular plants were invented at five different islands in the Lurö archipelago, Vänern, Sweden. The aim of the study was to sort out whether the diversity of plants has gone through any changes in abandoned managed grasslands compared to continuous managed grasslands. The aim was also to study if a change in the landscape has made any differences for the species development or decline.

Fresh Kills park and the The High line park in New York, Downsview park outside Toronto the birch landscape at Shiphol Airport have something more in common than being big new park landscapes.They all include thoughts and images about ecology. These images are neither typically nature picturesque nor typically garden stylish. In Sweden we have the biotopes of Ankarparken, the new design of Kristinebergsparken. At Chelsea Flower Show in England Swedish nature put in a garden format is winning awards. There are some new ecological influence in the air.

In this thesis we propose a conceptual plan for thedevelopment of an Agroforestry Training Centre (ATC)in Musoma, Tanzania. The aim is to make a proposalto support peasant education in agroforestry. How canan ATC in Musoma be developed into a stimulatingand educational park suitable for teaching agroforestrymethods to peasant farmers and other potential users?To answer that a field study was conducted to investigatehow our client Vi Agroforestry Programme (Vi) and thetarget groups of the client can benefit from the site.The thesis begins with a short explanation of thecontext, in which the ATC plays a part followed by amethodology chapter. Next are three chapters presentedwhich introduce the reader to the research conductedbefore starting the proposal, these include: results ofliterature studies, study of precedents, and results of fieldstudy.

The wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) has expanded across Europe and Sweden in the last decades. It is a generalist species which utilizes a variety of habitats, and its presence has been shown to have both positive and negative effects for people and the landscape they are in. The abundance and increase of wild boar has previously been shown to differ between counties in Sweden, but there have been few explanations as to why. In this study, I investigated correlations between the per capita rate of change (r) among wild boar populations in Sweden and a variety of different habitats on the county level. I also investigated if fragmentation per se or in certain habitats could be associated with the wild boar?s per capita rate of change. My results show that fragmentation/diversity per se was not correlated with wild boar r.

The organized and controlled form of collecting consumption taxes and toll from the import and export trade goes back to the 17th century in Sweden. The customs administration and procedure were regulated by royal announcements, and the majority of the documents found in the customs archives represent thus records stipulated by such notifications. The customs archives can be used for research on several levels; the announcements reflect currents within both the domestic and foreign politics, while the account lists for financial statistics portray the extent of the trade. The various lists of compilation can be further used to follow for instance the development of different units of measurement, the expansion of tax rates, the value of trade goods or the changes in monetary units or systems. The diaries, architectural plans of the customs offices and maps of the toll areas place the customs officials and their work within the local scenery.The thesis focuses on archives deriving from customs located at harbors and on the Swedish-Norwegian border in the county of Dalarna.

For my advanced degree in archival science, I have organised and catalogued two family archives; man Family Archives ("Gardtmanska släktarkivet") and the Hamnström Family Archives ("Hamnströmska säk- tarkivet"). Though both could be labelled "family archives", there were many differences between the two. The Gardtman Family Archives contained the records of several family members from a period of several centuries, spanning from the early 17th century, to the early 20th century. It was by far the larger of the two archives. A substantial part of the records consisted of documents regarding various agricultural estates the family had owned or been involved with in one way or another.

The purpose of this study is to examine which factors played an important role in the food price crisis of 2007-2008. Theories used are Microeconomic theory, explaining changes in supply and demand, and Macroeconomic theory, explaining the impact of changes in exchange rate on prices. A theory regarding speculation is also used to explain the impact of speculative activities effects on price. The method used is multiple regression analysis in order to determine the effects which ethanol production, oil price and dollar exchange rate had on the surge in the price of corn, rice and wheat.The data used is in monthly observations during the period 2005-2008. However, other factors are taken into consideration during the study, such as production quantity, stock size, economic growth, speculative activity and population growth.

The landscape can be something that you rest your eyes on, something that goes quickly past outside the windscreen or the place for the daily work. To me, landscape is everything around us ? the city, the field and the forest. But what is landscape for you? What does the idea of the landscape stand for? How does our view of the landscape become influenced of the place where we grow up? And the differences between peoples different views of the landscape ? what does they depend on? My point of the view for this paper is that the landscape ideals mostly depend on the landscape where you grow up and that it depends less on the differences between the individuals. As a landscape architect the idea of the landscape is the essential. The more we learn, the more we realize how complex it is, but deep down we always have our own experiences and memories and that shapes our personalities.

This work is about silage contaminated with slugs (Arion lusitanicus). The hypothesis was: Do slugs affect the nutritional value and hygiene quality of silage? During the winter season 2007/2008 silages were discarded in big amounts due to the contamination of slugs. Both the Swedish Farmer Association (LRF) and the National Veterinary Institute (SVA) received phone calls from farmers and animal owners about contaminated silage. The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and SVA decided to initiate this project as a master thesis.

This paper studies how the ?Swedish model? has influenced the Swedish community during the first half of the twentieth century and how living with this model was like in the 1960s. During the ?60s the laws and reforms created by the ruling socialistic party, SAP, dominated the Swedish society. Their goal was to build Per Albin Hansson?s vision of a welfare state.

This master thesis is about one of the first female in the Swedish Parliament, Elisabeth Tamm (1880?1958), and her political articles in the magazine Tidevarvet. The aim of this study is to find similarities with Tamm?s political thoughts with the Ecofeministic theory. Due to women?s right to vote 1919 women citizenship was in a political debate.

In order to respond to a more complex community planning with increased cooperation and public participation, a common language and a common model to be used as a base for the communication process is needed. The thesis behind this dissertation for a master's degree is that a virtual 3D planning portal would respond to this need. Why and how are explained and described through studies of communication- and perception theory as well as technology and recent research. The introduction concludes that a broad participation and a transparence towards underlying information are important foundations for the coming work with the model. The first four chapters of the theory part show the benefits of using natural signs in our mixed cultural society, instead of the more arbitrary symbols. Using visual landscapes for storing information is motivated by the flexibility of our visual memory and its ability to understand complex connections.

This study was made on former agricultural areas that had been planted with spruce or pine, in the county of Västerbotten. The goal of the project was to investigate suspected deficiency of boron in these areas. Several objects have been reported for possible deficiency and some of these have the characteristic symptoms of boron-deficiency. The hypotheses are that 1) Boron deficiency is present at several of the investigated objects. 2) Planting of forest on cultivated postglacial sediments leads to a successive podzolisation with a decreasing content of organic matter in the mineral soil, due to decomposition, and a decreasing pH in the soil, even on locations that have been added lime. To be able to confirm or reject the hypotheses a number of tests were performed.

This report was an outcome of a cooperation between ?The Visitor and Knowledge Project Carl von Linné? and SLU, the Swedish University of Agricultural Science. The aim with the cooperation was to create a garden and to suggest suitable plants for an orangery already built. All species suggested should have a documented relationship with Carl von Linné. The project is located in the southern part of Sweden at an estate named Möckelsnäs not far away from Linné?s birthplace.

A well, situated on Listerlandet in the western part of Blekinge in Sweden, has a very high content of nitrate. Water with a too high content of nitrate is hazardous to human health, in particular to small children. The area surrounding the well is mostly drained agricultural land with some larger farms for chicken and mink. The well takes its water from the bedrock and is deeper than most other wells affected by nitrate. The bedrock in the area is dominated by limestone with a relatively high flow of water.This thesis was performed in order to find the source of the nitrate.