Fire has historically been of great ecological importance in the boreal forests of Sweden. The forest fire regime has, however, varied between different parts of the country. The objective of this thesis is therefore to investigate the fire history in Fulufjället National Park and, on this basis, give suggestions for future fire management. The reconstruction of fire history was done by cross-dating fire scars in samples taken from living and dead Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). Local fire chronologies were established at 17 points in the forests in and around Fulufjället National Park by cross-dating fire scars on 54 samples. The oldest year-ring dated from year 968.

Analyses of pollen and charcoal in peat cores, together with age-structure data of Pinus sylvestris from a Ledum-Pinus-mire in the Tyresta National Park (south-east Sweden) show the regional vegetation succession and fire history over the last 9000 years. Five major stages of mire development are identified: 1. Lake (c 7000-6400 cal BC); 2. Wet fen (c 6400-6000 cal BC); 3. Deciduous fen (c 6000 cal BC to c cal AD 700); 4.

During the past years fire has been identified as an important factor for nature conservation in the forest landscape. To accurately quantify the size of a burnt area is obviously important, but also to quantify the degree of fire damage to the tree canopy. Such data are important for assessing the conservation value, and to support planning and management of the burned area in the future. I have examined how to estimate the status of tree crowns after fire from interpretation of aerial photographs. This is possible because fire changes the structure of tree crowns and this influences the colours in aerial photographs by spectral reflection. Included in the study are four areas, three of which burned in 2005 and one in 2006.

This final thesis is initiated by the wood fuel department at the Swedish forest company Sveaskog as part of a project which also involves two other final thesises. The overall goal of the project is to investigate Sveaskog´s possibilities to produce and sell different wood fuel assortments in Västerbotten and the southern parts of Norrland. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how much wood fuel Sveaskog can produce in the area during the next five years and what that would cost. Furthermore the thesis will investigate the total possible supply of wood fuel from all other possible producers in the area. Treated assortments are forest residues from final fellings, whole trees from direct wood fuel thinnings, non industrial wood and industrial by-products from sawmills. The main effort to investigate Sveaskog´s production possibilities has been made to calculate the possible annual amount of forest residues and fuel from wood fuel thinnings that can be produced.

The wood-living beetle Ceruchus chrysomelinus is a rare species connected to natural forests. In Sweden, it is red-listed as endangered (EN) and an action plan for its preservation has been done by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. In this work I have therefore investigated how a translocation of the species succeeded after 17 years. I aimed to study the species dispersal biology, its substrate preferences and the supply of suitable wood on this site. The study was performed during 2012 in Pansaruddens nature reserve close to Uppsala in Sweden, which is a spruce dominated forest.

With the elevated oil prices of today it is necessary to look for other heating alternatives. If the oil price continues to develop in the same way it has done the last years it will soon be impossible for many producing garden companies to survive. The purpose of this diploma work is to compare three different fuel options in order to find the most economic one considering the conditions of Katrinebergs Handelsträdgård AB. In relation to oil it is profitable to change to any of the three alternatives: wood chips, wood pellets and grain. The most profitable option is to change to wood chips. This alternative has a payoff time less than three years and after that the annual saving compared to the oil is relatively high. The annual cost is 65 % of the cost of the oil alternative.

The study was carried out as a time study of five wood chippers placed on trucks,so?called huggbilar. They are trucks with built?in wood chipper, chip bowl and crane pulling a chip trailer. The system is used for chipping wood fuel, transporting, and delivering the chips to heating plants.

This report is a part of the process of enhanced cooperation between fire rescue services in the region of North West Scania. The aim of the report is to study and analyze how the fire rescue service should be structured, in terms of rescue units and personnel, if no account is to be taking to the current organization. Two types of accident are considered in the report, traffic accidents and building fires. These are more affected by decreased response time than other accidents. Several suggested organizations are presented and they are evaluated with the computer program REP.

Open ecosystems, such as grasslands and pastures, have naturally been shaped by disturbances like fire and grazing. These processes play a crucial role in creating habitats with high biological diversity, particularly favourable for a wide range of herbaceous plant species. In recent years, many of these disturbances have ceased, leading to encroachment, fragmentation and habitat loss. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the effects of fire, herbivory and a combination of fire and herbivory on the emergence of herbaceous plants. The study was conducted at the Ecopark at Nordens Ark.

In order to reduce the number of casualties and injured from accidents the rescue service must become more efficient and flexible. It is noted that far more people is injured and killed in traffic accidents than from fires. During the daytime the number of accidents in about three times higher than during the night, even so today the number of fire fighters on duty is the same day and night.Two computer models for simulation of different locations of the rescue services are used to determine the best options for placement of the rescue services. A cost-benefit analysis is also used to determine if today's fire stations are efficient for the society from an economical point of view.The results of the different models are that the fire station in Lund is misplaced. The number of ladders in Malmö can be reduced.

This paper aims to investigate the connection between clearance cairns and burial cairns. From this point of view I try to answer the questions why they are built in the same area and why these two different types of cairns are so similary constructed. Further I consider different theories about mounds of fire-cracked stones..

The aim of the study was to compare productivity in first thinning of birch stands, when either energy- or pulpwood was harvested. The systems total profitability was also compared by including forwarding and chipping costs. A Gremo 950 HPVR harvester was used and the same driver was used under the entire study. During the pulpwood harvest a Logmax 4000b harvester head was used and a feller buncher head made by Silvatec was used during the energy wood harvest. Six study unit pairs were located in a birch dominated stand outside Ängelholm in Skåne.

The primary purpose of this study has been to investigate the Swedish timber industry?s perception of compression wood. A secondary aim has been to describe particular areas within the production process where compression wood is likely to cause problems. This study has mainly been carried out as a questionnaire. In order to connect the findings to current research, additional information has also been collected by means of a literature review. The questionnaire has been intended for sawmills and wood-manufacturing companies from various production classes and owner categories, as well as from different parts of the country.

A high amount of dead wood is one of the most important prerequisites for high biodiversity on forest land in Sweden. Dead wood is most abundant in young forests, thinned forests, woodland key habitats and protected forest land. In old-growth forests most of the dead wood consists of logs and snags, whilst in managed forests a huge proportion of dead wood is made up of logging residues like stumps and FWD, fine woody debris (< 10 cm diameter). All these different types of dead wood may serve as substrates for epixylic bryophytes and lichens. However, few studies have been conducted on the relative importance of these different fractions of dead wood for the occurrence of bryophytes and lichens, especially when considering dead wood on thinned forest land.

This report compares two different types of insulation with regards to fire and moisture. The materials were tested for the company Fiskarhedenvillan AB, for a wall and a roof construction that the company currently uses in the establishment of Sweden's first certified passive house for international standards.Their current material, Rockwool, is compared to a relatively new material on the Swedish market called SEALECTION Agribalance sold by the company ISO Green AB. The material is a type of polyurethane insulation. This insulation material would result in a more efficient execution of the construction as it provides waterproofing and is applied more easily than Rockwool. From a fire standpoint, literature studies and discussions with fire experts led to results.