All over the world the waste from human society is causing problems. In developing countries, large cities are polluted through huge amounts of wastes and people are forced to live very close to open deposits. Lima, capital of Peru, is no exception. The countryside in Peru has also a great challenge to face concerning the waste issue. Children and adults suffer from infectious diseases and contamination of the nature occurs as well. One solution to handle organic waste is to compost, which means a controlled decomposition of organic waste under aerobic conditions at certain temperatures.

Forestry is increasing on an industrial scale where collection of logging residues takes a greater part. This has resulted in more machinery and heavy machinery driving in the clear felled area, this increases the risk of soil damage that will occur in the form of soil compacting and rutting in the clearings. This affecting on the nature in a negative way and especially in rivers and lakes that are affected by siltation and acidification leading to increased levels of heavy metals and methyl mercury. The purpose of this study was to investigate why there is damage to the ground when working with the slash in forest management from the forest officer point of view. A self-designed questionnaire was used and 45 questionnaires were sent out to various companies all over Sweden.

The level of cadmium (Cd) in Swedish arable land has increased during the last century and the average concentration of Cd in the plough layer is today 0.23 mg/kg. The increase is mainly due to anthropogenic activities such as phosphorus fertilizing, liming, import of feed, and atmospheric deposition from industrial emissions. Cadmium in the soil will be taken up by crops and is thereby transferred to humans via food. Carrot is one of the crops of concern, both because it may contain quite high Cd concentrations and due to the large consumption in Sweden. In the body, Cd is stored mainly in the liver and the kidneys and may cause several diseases already at low concentrations.

When building a house or similar the stress on the ground increases and deformations can arise. The deformations create a foundation that the building is not constructed for and damages on the building arise. The increased stress on the ground can be derived back to the building, but it is possible that the increased stress may well derive from different sources such as other buildings or trees.       The building is an older property, built in the late 19th century alternatively early 20th century, and is today used for rental housing and has suffered severe damages due to subsidence. The goal of the thesis is to find possible causes for these subsidences. The thesis was executed as a combination between literature- and casestudie. After careful studies it has been found that a probable cause for these subsidences is trees. Through field- and lab studies it has been found that the trees has effected the ground through there accumulation of water.

Uppsats för avläggande av högskoleexamen i Kulturvård, Trädgårdens hantverk och design 7,5 hp, 2014.

Transformation of inorganic mercury (Hg) to methyl mercury (MeHg) is a biotic process that is proposed to be conducted primarily by sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB). The formation of MeHg is of great interest because it is the mercury species that biomagnifies to the greatest extent in the aquatic food webs; about 90 % of all Hg in fish is MeHg. Our understanding of factors involved in the production of MeHg is very important for making a reliable risk assessment. The purposes of this study were to investigate the different factors that control the solubility of Hg and the production of MeHg in a contaminated lake sediment. The lake Ala-Lombolo, Kiruna municipality, is well-known to be contaminated by mercury from different sources. Sediment cores were sampled at three different locations (N, SW and SE) in the lake and divided in three different layers; 0-5, 5-10 and 10-15 cm.

Cultural heritages are environments created by humans that are considered to have a conservation value for the posterity. They can be seen as one of society's non renewable resources. It is important to have knowledge of how cultural heritages are affected by future climate changes.The water flow in Uppsala is estimated to increase during winter and decrease during spring and summer. Precipitation will gradually increase as well as the intense short period precipitation. The average temperature is estimated to increase as well.

Digital depth-to-water maps can be produced from a digital elevation model (DEM). Then GIS- based algorithms are used to calculate water flows and the depth-to-water index classes dry, fresh, moist and wet. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility to use depth- to-water maps for site adapted planting.The results showed that use of depth-to-water maps for site adapted planting, roughly halved the proportion of improperly planted surfaces from an average of 9 % to 4 %. The variation in the values of proper surface decreased and the result became more even.. In addition, more pine than spruce was incorrectly planted.

Studies show that the interest and knowledge about science among teenagers is decreasing. They also reveal the difficulties to explain the ecological processes and that the ideas about the nature are collected from everyday life and early school years.The intention of this investigation was to find out more about children?s ideas and knowledge about the ecological processes and to compare these results with the curriculum.The method was a questionnaire and interviews with children in school year 1 ? 6. The aim of the studies was also to find out if any progress connected to age could be found, concerning understanding of the ecological processes.The results showed difficulties in achieving the predestined goals for biology and chemistry concerning ecology cycles and they differed a lot between the children. Often the learning process showed very little progress.

In Sweden, reduced tillage usually means non-inversion tillage, where primary tillage is carried out using chisel ploughs or disc implements. Primary tillage method is mainly determined by the desired soil loosening and the handling of soil residues. The effect of tillage depth was studied in field experiments in Skåne, Väderstad, Uppsala, Örebro och Västerås in different crops; spring oilseed rape, spring wheat, winter wheat and spring barley.The experiments generally had a randomized block design with the treatments mouldboard ploughing, deep chisel ploughing and shallow chisel ploughing, in some cases also shallow discing and no-tillage. In the experiments the following parameters were determined: seedbed properties, saturated hydraulic conductivity, penetration resistance, number of emerged plants and crop yield (all parameters were not determined in all experiments. Root growth and draught requirement were determined in two separate studies. There were no significant differences between tillage depths in non-inversion tillage in seedbed properties, plant emergence or root development.

Eutrophication is a major problem in the Baltic Sea, as a result of increased loading of nitrogen and phosphorus. In the coastal parts of Östergötland the soil largely consists of clay and contains high levels of phosphorus bound to clay particles. Erosion of the soil in agricultural areas makes the water turbid and transports phosphorus to the Baltic Sea. The aim of this project was to examine the relationship between phosphorus and turbidity in the coastal streams of Östergötland. The aim was also to evaluate the possibility to use turbidity as a surrogate measure for phosphorus.

Optimization of soil tillage and crop rotation is important in many aspects, but particularly in maximizing profit margins. Since the economic outcome is usually decisive, it can be interesting to study different combinations of soil tillage systems and crop rotations in order to identify the maximum economic outcome. How a crop functions in a particular tillage system determines whether it is profitable to grow that crop. Different tillage systems affect the soil and its processes in different ways. Reduced tillage often works best on weak-structured heavy clays and on silty clays.

Prevention of lion predation towards African livestock is of great importance due to the economical losses farmers have because of this. Predation is also one of the main reasons for human-wildlife conflicts and lions often get killed because of it. Therefore, a pilot study using camera traps was conducted to monitor movements of lions and other wildlife through a wildlife corridor in Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The results were compared with a previous study that counted prints in the soil in front of the corridor. Due to theft risk the cameras had to be taken down and pictures were only collected from nine days.

Cultivation of grapevine is novel under Scandinavian conditions. We studied the impact of ground cover on frost hardiness of grapevine cultivars in Northwestern Scania in a two-factorial trial with four cultivars Solaris, Pinot Gris, Siegerrebe, Ortega and three kinds of ground cover (open soil, plastic cover and gravel). The study was conducted in a grapevine orchard, planted in May 2009, in Broddarp on Bjärepenisula Sweden (N latitude 56°; longitude E 12°). Soil and air temperature were monitored continuously. Frost hardiness measurements were performed every second week from late September to early December 2009. Frost resistance, LT50, was determined by electrolyte leakage measurement of the upper stems after artificial freezing at -15 °C.

Eutrophication is a major problem in the Baltic Sea, as a result of increased loading of nitrogen and phosphorus. In the coastal parts of Östergötland the soil largely consists of clay and contains high levels of phosphorus bound to clay particles. Erosion of the soil in agricultural areas makes the water turbid and transports phosphorus to the Baltic Sea. The aim of this project was to examine the relationship between phosphorus and turbidity in the coastal streams of Östergötland. The aim was also to evaluate the possibility to use turbidity as a surrogate measure for phosphorus.