The pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani causes major economic losses for potato producers in Sweden. The producers, as well as advisors, have reported possible increases in severity of R. solani when free-living plant parasitic nematodes are present and active. There are several examples in the literature of interactions between pathogens where one, or both species, support or increase the damage made by the other organism. These complexes are important to investigate and to be able to forecast, since even low incidences of fungi or nematodes may result in an interaction of significance.

Transportation constitutes a large part of the forest industry's raw material costs. Transport also contributes a significant proportion of the carbon dioxide emissions. In order to reduce both the cost and environmental impact different types of decision support are required. These, in turn, require extensive information about the road network and correct information on road path selection and transport distances. In the development of national road data base for forestry (SNVDB) a road selection application has been included.

The farm management system controlled traffic farming (CTF) aims to reduce soil compaction by restricting the field traffic from agricultural machinery to permanent traffic lanes. Literature and empirical findings show that soil compaction and field traffic from heavy machinery may affect crop growth negatively, reducing crop yields. If grass-clover leys are subject to heavy field traffic the botanic composition might be altered, providing a lower clover content in the forage. Clover as a silage feed is rich in protein providing good conditions for high yielding dairy cows. Grass-clover silage production is generally associated with intensive field traffic.

Bristly swan-neck moss (Campylopus atrovirens) is in Sweden a very rare moss that only grows on a few blocks and cliffs around Gothenburg. The species can globally only be found in areas with high precipitation. Rain fall in Gothenburg has increased with a stronger greenhouse effect. Air pollution in Gothenburg has also improved. Mosses generally benefit from these conditions and this papers hypothesis is that the population of the species has grown because of these more beneficial conditions.

Handling, loading, transport time and unloading in connection to transport of farm animals affect animal welfare. Induced effects include both psychological and physiological stress responses in animals. The physiological parameters may be measured through blood analysis while behavioural changes often manifest themselves through increased vocalisation, escape attempts and apathy. Physiological parameters are additional parameters of importance when measuring animal stress responses. The handlers behavior during transport has been shown to have major impact on animal welfare and the quality of meat. Animal friendly handling and driving of animals create a more manageable work environment for the handlers. To further increase animal welfare in connection to transport, stables should be built with well adapted drift passage and ramps on the transport vehicle.

The number of silvicultural contractors has significantly increased in the last decades, and among its main clients are the forest companies. The purpose with this study was to describe the contractors that worked with planting in Norrbotten and Västerbotten in 2009 for Holmen Skog, Norra Skogsägarna, SCA Skog and Sveaskog and also examine if there was any correlation between the contractors? competence and the quality in the planting they achieved. A survey was made among 47 contractors with a questionnaire who performed planting for the forestry companies in 2009. 27 contractors answered the questionnaire and 4 representatives of these contracting companies took part in an extensive interview.

Prescribed burning was commonly used for site preparation in Sweden to establish new forests until the 1960?s, when mechanical scarification was introduced. During recent decades the interest in prescribed burnings has increased again, mainly due to certifications of forestry stating that 5% of the regeneration areas should be burned on dry and mesic soils. The objective of the study was to evaluate actual influence of prescribed burning compared to other site preparation on stand stem density, growth parameters and tree damages for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) after direct seeding and planting. The study also attempts to simulate growth until first thinning.

As a result of my fascination for nature I have chosen to study the possibilities to introduce natural environments on schoolyards. Too many schoolyards are lacking vegetation and many of them look like sterile asphalt deserts. The master thesis consists of two parts. The first part is based on literature studies and the second part in which findings from part one are put into practice. Five examples are presented; four schoolyards in Malmö; Kryddgårdsskolan, Kirsebergsskolan, Rörsjöskolan and Lindängeskolan and one in Kalmar; Åbyskolan. Malmö Naturskola has been working with the chosen areas on the schoolyards in Malmö.

Det är mycket viktigt att förhindra att bekämpningsmedelsubstanser läcker ut i miljön och orsakar skada. Lagstiftningen kräver därför att läckaget av bekämpningsmedel från odlad mark minskas. Olika myndigheter och organisationer har olika ansvarsområden beträffande bekämpningsmedel. Bekämpningsmedelssubstanser kan, om de inte hanteras rätt, vara skadliga och därför finns det tydliga bestämmelser om hur dessa substanser ska hanteras. Många oberoende undersökningar visar tydligt på att det förekommer läckage av bekämpningsmedel i samband med att de används i behandlingar av odlad mark. Undersökningar har pågått under lång tid både i Sverige och i andra länder. Ett flertal åtgärder och metoder mot läckage av bekämpningsmedel från odlad mark har framtagits och utvecklats som radikalt kan minska läckaget av bekämpningsmedel.

The aim of this paper has been to examine to what extent it has been possible for Patricia Crampton, translator of Ronia, the Robber?s Daughter, to capture and cling to the very personal style in which Astrid Lindgren writes. I also wanted to find out if any adaptations of the text were made and, if any, how they have affected the tone of the book. To fulfil this purpose a thorough comparison of the original text and the translation has been made. The first chapter consists of an introduction presenting the background to my choice of topic and giving a short presentation of Astrid Lindgren and her career as an author.

Nowadays the majority of the thinnings made in Swedish forests are done by machines, harvesters and forwarders. The most common model in thinning with a harvester is strip-road operated thinning and stand-operated thinning with one intermediate passage between the strip-roads. This study is a time study with some quality follow ups on a strip-road operated thinning model, a stand-operated thinning model with one intermediate passage between the strip-roads and a stand-operated thinning model with two intermediate passages between the strip-roads. The machines in the study were a small harvester (Forestline MPM C90) and a medium sized forwarder (Timberjack 1110). The study was made in Litsnäset outside the city of Östersund in Sweden and was made during the autumn 2007. In a lodgepole pine stand six study units (0,6 ha) were thinned with the three different models, two study units per model.

Många av Sveriges badhus byggda i slutet av 1900-talet börjar idag visa tecken på kraftiga fuktskador på grund av extrema inomhusklimat. Denna rapport förklarar den allmänna problematiken kring högt fuktbelastade byggnader och berör det fuktskadade badhuset Aquarena i Katrineholm.  Extrem noggrannhet krävs vid montering av ångspärr i en konstruktion, speciellt vid högt invändigt fukttillskott. Optimal placering av fuktspärren i konstruktionens varmare del innebär att fukt aldrig tillåts kondensera och därmed minimeras risken för fuktskador och negativa konsekvenser. Verkligheten visar också att om kunskaper om fukt och fuktskador prioriteras redan i ett tidigt stadium under projektering kan många hundratusentals kronor sparas. Beräkningar av fukttransport har gjorts för tidigare ytterväggskonstruktion i Aquarena (den som drabbats av skador) och nybyggd ytterväggskonstruktion (nyframtagen till återuppbyggnaden) i datorprogrammet WUFI Pro 4.2 och analyserats i WUFI Bio 3.0.

Oilseed rape constitutes a good break crop within a cereal dominated cropping system. The normal sowing time for winter rape in Sweden is August. It's a time in the cropping year characterized by a heavy work load, such as harvest and soil management. In addition, it is often a period with large precipitation. Thus, it is sometimes problematic for the farmer to do the sowing of winter rape at the optimal time.

This essay discusses the Laholm?s bay and its eutrofication problems. The question of issue is: Have the efforts to limit the eutrofication in the Laholm?s bay been effective? What is the local actor?s opinion whether the measures have been effective or not? What efforts have been made to prevent the leakage of nutrients from fields and forestland? The Laholm's bay is located in the south part of the Swedish west coast. The problem was noticed in the 1960´s by local fishermen that experienced a lack of catch.

Stump biomass is energy rich and stump harvesting for use as fuel become more and more interesting in Sweden. Swedish Forest Agency (2009) has estimated that stump harvesting in Sweden would respond to an annual energy supply of 57 TWh/year. However, stump has not been recognized as a bioenergy resource in Sweden. Suitable methods for pre-treatment of stump are probably of great importance to make it accepted as fuel. It is therefore rewarding to carry out an investigation in this area for stump. This report represents results from a diploma project, which was aimed to develop a fixed bed reactor for experimental study of biomass torrefaction, followed by TG analysis and kinetic modelling employing Ozawa method and different kinetic models including one-step and three-pseudo-component models.