Large amounts of phosphorus (P) are lost from the arable land due to water erosion. Both phosphorus attached to particles and dissolved phosphorus (mainly phosphate) are transported away with drainage-water and surface runoff. Good soil structure is important in minimizing these losses. In this study, soils from 50 fields were analysed with respect to aggregate stability as measured by dispersion of clay together with the content of total phosphorus (TotP), particulate phosphorus (PP) and phosphate phosphorus (PO4P) in the water phase. All soils were clay soils with clay content varying between 21 and 54%.

Better, more efficient fertilizers with great productivity and economic returns are needed, but it is important today to find fertilizers that are also sustainable. It is also important to carefully monitor their impact on the environment, including potential side-effects. In this context, the microbial communities that carry out numerous essential functions contributing to a functional ecosystem are of particular interest. The present study is a complement to a pot experiment that investigated the potential of different waste products for use as fertilizers and how they affect the microbial community. In the pot experiment, the clearest treatment change in microorganism community function was found in the fully fertilized treatment used as a positive control. The question was whether this was indirect, i.e.

Rapid population growth and the fact that phosphorous is a limited resource implies that the question regarding an efficient use of phosphorus is of great importance, and consequently,that the phosphorous use efficiency should be as high as possible. The view on phosphorous use efficiency, and how this is calculated, has varied over time. This has had great implications on what type of research that has been conducted, which have resulted in an inconsistency between the academic?s view on the subject and recommendations received by farmers. The purpose of this paper is to calculate the phosphorus use efficiency in the Swedish long term fertility experiments.

Sahlgrenska Academyat University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstractTitle: Coconut water and recovery/water-electrolyte balance after physicalexcercise ? A systematic overviewAuthor: Irene Eriksson and Alexandra ÖquistSupervisor: Henriette PhilipsonExaminer: Frode SlindeProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: April 09, 2014Background: During physical exercise, it is common with dehydration, which affectsperformance negatively. To restore the fluid balance it is optimal to drink fluids containingsalt and carbohydrates. In theory, coconut water should be a good recovery drink because oftheir nutrient content.Objective: To evaluate the scientific evidence available, to investigate whether coconut wateris better than water or sports drinks for rehydration after physical exercise.Search strategy: PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library have been used in the literarysearch. Keywords used were recovery, fluid balance, fluid therapy, water-electrolyte balance,rehydration, dehydration, hydration, exercise, physical activity, resistance training, activity,sports, training, coconut water in varying combinations, in order to cover as wide area aspossible.

Aluminium sulphate (Al2(SO4)3) is usually added during the drinking water treatment processin order to precipitate organic and inorganic material, resulting in aluminium-based drinkingwater treatment residual sludge (WTR). Since 2003 Swedish law no longer permits WTR tobe deposited in lakes, and there is an interest to explore the possibility to utilize WTR as soilamendment. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of WTR application on cropgrowth and concentrations of macronutrients and trace elements (including micronutrients andpotential toxic elements). A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted with three soils; a clayloam rich in phosphorous (P), a loamy sand rich in P, and a silty loam with a low soil Pconcentration, and two crop species Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam. cv.

The research group Soil and Water Management at the department of Soil and Environment at theSwedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala are studying greenhouse gas emissions fromcultivated peat soils. To measure carbon dioxide emissions from peat soils in the field the researchgroup are now using two portable carbon dioxide meters (Vaisala GMP343). For practical reasons,they plan to acquire a new type of automated field meter. The aim of this study is to evaluate thepresent meters to see how environmental conditions and instrument settings affect the results,which is meant to facilitate the introduction of the new field meter when the meters needs to becompared. As a part of the study the relationship between groundwater level and carbon dioxideemissions from peat soils will be investigated.The evaluation of the two carbon dioxide meters was made by connecting them to one single airtightsystem, with the aim of creating identical measurement environments.

Chlorinated solvent are volatile organic substances that can be harmful for humans and for the environment. Examples of common chlorinated solvents are perchloroethene, PCE, and trichloroethene, TCE. Chlorinated solvents appear as contaminants in soils primarily where they have been used as washing fluids in dry-cleaning facilities or as degreasers in metal industries. Chlorinated solvents are DNAPLs (dense non-aqueous phase liquids), which means that they are not easily dissolved in water and that they sink to the bottom of the aquifer. Adsorption to soils is low so chlorinated solvents are mobile in soils.

Based on laboratory studies with lysimeters, the concentrations of dissolved reactive phosphorus(DRP) and particulate phosphorus, which is the main part of other P (OVRP), has been studied inpercolating water. The experiment was conducted through irrigation of small soil columnscontaining clay topsoil from an experimental field in Västergötland. Three rain simulations wereconsecutively performed. DRP concentrations in the percolating water ranged between 0.2 - 0.3mg·Lclearly related to the phosphorus concentration in the soil, measured in a soil extract ofammonium lactate (P-AL). Concentrations of OVRP were relatively low and ranged between0.12 and 0.16 mg·Lwas not proven and the experiment may reflect how a relatively slow percolation of water mayrelease DRP.

This study consists of a literature study and a survey in Tamil Nadu, India. The aim of the study was to get an understanding of horse feeding in tropical climates and what kind of feeding related problems that could occur because of the fodder. Information and data were collected from eight different stables and from Tamil Nadu University of Agriculture in the region of Tamil Nadu in March-April 2009. The horses in Tamil Nadu were given rice straw, unknown grass, Cynodon dactylon, lucerne, maize, Pennisetum glaucum x Pennisetum purpureum hybrid and Chloris gayana as roughage. As concentrates, the horses were given wheat bran, oats, barley, soybean meal, maize, carrots, coconut cake, peanut cake, horse gram and chick pea.

Allanblackia is a genus of trees that grows in the rainforests of West, Central and Eastern Africa. Its big fruits contain seeds very rich in oil which has been used by local communities for cooking and making soaps. The native stands are threatened by overexploitation and the demand for the oil is much greater than the supply. Domestication programs, aiming at introducing the trees to small holder agroforestry systems, have been started for some of the species. The main aim of this study was to investigate the soil requirements of Allanblackia stuhlmannii in terms of chemical and physical parameters, as revealed by the soil conditions in native stands. Another aim was to see if these varied along an altitudinal transect.

The goal of the society to increase the proportion of renewable energy has led to an increased demand of bioenergy e.g. forest biomass. However, there are concerns that removal of biomass will lead to decreased base cation concentrations in the soils and acidification of streams. In order to find in which types of landscape removal of branches and tops could have such negative effects, this study aims to analyse the relations between pH-sensitivity and landscape variables in the Bothnia Bay water district. GIS and digital geographical data were used to analyse the landscape in subcatchments.

The decomposition of organic carbon in drained peat soils is a major source of carbon di-oxide in Sweden. A big part of these drained peat soils are used in agriculture and it is a big challenge to slow down their decomposition. It has earlier been thought that less tilling and higher water table levels would decrease the activity of soil microbes and thereby the decomposition, but recent experiments has showed that this has little or no effect. In this bachelor thesis a field experiment was made on drained peat soil with ley, outside Björklinge, Uppsala municipality, Sweden. The experiment was carried out in May 2011. The objective was to develop a method to examine how the net exchange of carbon diox-ide from plant covered peat soil is affected by temperature and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).

During whole-tree harvesting, there is a risk that the soil will become impoverished of nutrients. To prevent this, nutrients are returned to the harvested site as wood ash. This action also reduces the risk of soil acidification. Nevertheless, the ash does not result in any increase of tree growth if it is added on mineral soils, which is where the measure is most commonly used in Sweden. Due to the lack of growth response, the interest from landowners is small, which is why ash amendment today is not done enough to compensate for the need.

The aims of the silvicultural method natural regeneration of spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) in birch (Betula pendula and pubescens) shelterwoods are to establish a new stand of tree seedl-ings and to protect those from high groundwater levels, frost damages and grass competition during its first life years. The aim of this work has been to (i) describe how shelterwood and stand characteristics influ-ence the results from using natural regeneration of spruce protected by a shelterwood of birch, and to (ii) compare those regeneration results with planting of spruce after soil scarification in clear-cut areas. Totally 17 harvesting sites have been inventoried and 15 of those included natural regenera-tion in birch shelterwoods, and two were subjects to soil scarification and planting of spruce. The sites represented 7-10 year old final cuts and are located in the coastal (eastern) region of the province of Norrbotten in Sweden. In all areas shelterwood and stand characteristics, as well as the number of main crop seedlings and the height of the highest main crop spruce seedling, were estimated and registered in all areas.

Certain types of waste, e.g. bottom ash originating from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI bottom ash) can be used as road construction materials. A potential problem is the possibility of substances leaching out of the road and spreading in the surrounding groundwater.The aim of this master?s thesis is to conclude whether hydrogeological type settings can be employed to, based on local conditions, provide an estimate of the probable spreading of these substances in the surrounding groundwater, and whether certain types of soils can be identified as being less suitable for the localization of a MSWI bottom ash road. A hydrogeological type setting is defined as a mappable unit with similar hydrogeological properties.