In Sweden, the eutrophication of lakes, water courses and the coastal areas is considered the major threat to aquatic ecosystems and therefore actions taken to reduce the nutrient load to aquatic system including the Baltic Sea has high priority. There are many different sources of phosphorous and nitrogen and domestic wastewater is one contributing factor to the high load. Especially waste water from households that is not connected to municipal sewage treatment or a local small scale plant with appropriate nutrient removal efficiency is considered a problem. These types of households are quite common in rural areas in Sweden and in areas where summer houses has been converted to permanent living. Swedish legislation now permit the municipalities to decide in which areas within the municipality higher demands of the local small scale treatment facility should be met by the households (i.e.

This study investigates the role of yeast in green crop and its impact on the aerobic stability of silage. Fresh crop was collected from 15 farms in southern and middle parts of Sweden during the summer 2014; samples from the primary harvest was collected from eight farms and samples from the first regrowth harvest was collected from seven farms. The grass was ensiled in 1.7 l glass silos. After three months of ensiling, silos were opened and silages were stored aerobically for 10 days. Samples from both harvests were ensiled in completely airtight silos, but samples from the second harvest were also ensiled in slightly ventilated silos. Chemical analyses and yeast counts were performed for fresh crop and silage.

Calcareous fens constitute a specific habitat which is uncommon in Europe and protected by the EU habitat directive due to its importance to several threatened species. Hagebyhöga in Östergötland is a calcareous fen habitat included in the Natura 2000 Networking Programme. Adjacent to the existing fen, a degraded fen area is situated. The area has been used for agriculture for several years but is now going to be restored to its former state by the county administrative board of Östergötland.When working with restoration of degraded fen areas it is important to aquire knowledge about the chemical soil conditions. Plant growth limited by phosphorus and low fertility are characteristic conditions for calcareous fens, whilst arable land usually is highly fertile and limited by nitrogen.The purpose of this study is to bring forth useful knowledge for restoring the degraded calcareous fen of Hagebyhöga.

When rubber equipment in a milking system ages, physical and chemical deterioration occurs and cracks, crevices, as well as deposits of organic and inorganic material is formed on the surface. Bacterial colonization can accumulate, especially on ageing rubber equipment and if the cleaning procedure is not functioning properly. Formation of biofilm in milking equipment could in turn cause bacterial contamination of bulk tank milk. ATP bioluminescence is a fast and easy way to determine the hygienic status of a surface based on its ATP content, and results are given in relative light units (RLU). The method measures both bacterial contamination as well as residues from other organic material.

This is a literature review of how the climate change affects the forest growth innorthern Sweden. The temperature will rise about 5 °C with the largest increase in thewinter season (December - February) and the CO2level in the atmosphere is expected tobe doubled. Precipitation patterns will change and increase with 25-35 % and theprecipitation will be in form of rain rather than snow. Today the forests in northernSweden are entirely dominated by coniferous stands. This may shift with the climatechange and results in a larger number of deciduous trees, preferably birch will becomestronger and grow better and faster.

The increasing threat of climate change has led to a increased need for models to predict future climat. In these models the changes in the soil carbon pools due to changes in microbiel degradation of the organic matter can lead to both positive and negative feedback-effects. There is however a lack of consensues on the temperature respons on degradation soil organic matter. This paper aim to give a better understanding on the factors controlling the temperature respons. The factors studied were the carbon substrate qualitity and the physiological status of the microorganisms.

This project investigated how elevation and vegetation type influences variation in plant litter phenolic content and protein precipitation capacity among and within common plant species for two different vegetation types, heath and meadow, in a subarctic ecosystem in the Abisko region of northern Sweden. As nutrient availability generally decreases with increasing elevation as a result of decreasing temperature, I hypothesised that phenolic content would increase with elevation and be higher on the heath than the meadow. To test this, the total phenolic content and protein precipitation capacity was estimated in leaf litter from 13 species in both heath and meadow vegetation across an elevational gradient ranging from 500 to 1000 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.) in the study region. The results showed that elevation and vegetation type both had a strong impact on both variables. Total phenolic concentrations decreased with elevation for the meadow, and were greater for the heath than the meadow.

I denna studie har funktionen hos sju anlagda våtmarker för behandling av avloppsvatten i Sverige jämförts över tid med avseende på avskiljning av kväve, fosfor och BOD. Syftet var att undersöka våtmarkernas långsiktiga funktion, skötselåtgärder och relaterade kostnader. Våtmarkerna (1,6 - 28 ha stora) har varit i drift olika länge, mellan 7 och 17 år, och befintliga övervakningsdata samt intervjuer med ansvariga för respektive våtmark användes som grund för studien. Resultaten visade att våtmarkernas reningsfunktion generellt sett varit god utan någon tendens till en försämrad funktion över tid. Våtmarkerna belastades med 1100 - 9900 kg N/ (ha·år) och avskiljde mellan 420 och 2400 kg N/ (ha·år), beräknat som ett medelvärde per anläggning.

Kväve är en viktig byggsten i allt levande på jorden, och ingår i bland annat aminosyror,proteiner och DNA. Eftersom kväve återfinns i alla växtens celler har det en avgörande roll ivåra odlingssysystem för att få skördar med bra kvalitet. Kväve utgör också en av de storamiljöbovarna inom lantbruket. Överskott av kväve i odlingar medför risk för kväveförluster.Ett stort problem är kväveutlakning, som menas det kväve som följer regnvatten ner i undrejordlager och vidare till grundvatten, vattenströmmar och hav. Kväveutlakning kan ge storakonsekvenser på miljön, och reslutera i övergödning, döda havsbottnar och oballans i våraekologiska system.

Russian comfrey, Symphytum x uplandicum, was tested as a plant nutrient source in a trial with tomatoes. Comfrey liquid was produced by Stiftelsen Holma i Höör. Tomato plants of the cultivar Aromata planted in a medium of soil:peat (1:1) enriched with organic nutrients and lime, were fed with comfrey liquid plus Biofer, in three different concentrations. Two different concentrations of BioRika were used as comparison, along with an unfertilized control group. In the comfrey treatment I a total amont of 1g N, 0,23 g P, 0,84 g K, was given to the tomatoes.

Streams and riparian zone are closely linked by reciprocal flows of energy and nutrients. A large part of the transportation from water to land is in form of emerged aquatic insects. Conversion of land from forest to agriculture can greatly affect aquatic ecosystems, and due to the close link, also affect the adjacent terrestral zone. Investigating how the presence of agriculture in the surrounding area affects amounts of emergent aquatic insects gives an indication on how agriculture, in turn, may affect the terrestral enviroment. The study was preformed alongside ten streams in northern Sweden; five in landscape transformed by agriculture and five in undisturbed forest areas.

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.

Reducing the CO2-pollution, resulting from the combustion of fossil coal for energyproduction, is important to affect environmental changes. One way to achieve a reductionis to use the oxy-fuel technology. The technology uses O2 and re-circulated flue gasduring the combustion which results in a flue gas mainly consisting of CO2. The flue gascould then be compressed and stored without environmental effects. A problem thatfollows from the compression is the risk of acidification in sensitive parts of the process.Acidification can occur because of reactions following from the contact of condensedwater and sulphur- and nitrogen-oxides which are also present in the flue gas.This report compiles and evaluates the basis of a scientific unit with the purpose ofexploring the possibilities of extracting impurities of SOx and NOx from the flue gases.The dimensions of the unit are based on basic conditions, defined for an existing oxy-fuelprocess at Chalmers, and on the results of computer modelling.

Hammarby Sjöstad is a new district in Stockholm with high environmental standard. Stockholm Water Company evaluates a local wastewater treatment plant with cutting edge technology. The first step is an experimental treatment plant (Sjöstadsverket) with four parallel lines of treatment, each with a capacity to treat wastewater from 150 persons. Within the membrane technology subproject the possibility of using reverse osmosis (usually called RO) to regain nutrients is examined.Reverse osmosis separates the incoming water in a clean permeate and a concentrate that, as the name indicates, is a more concentrated version of the incoming water. Using this method in wastewater treatment, a solution high in nutrients can be obtained without the use of chemical precipitation agent and with no production of sludge.

Reducing the CO2-pollution, resulting from the combustion of fossil coal for energyproduction, is important to affect environmental changes. One way to achieve a reductionis to use the oxy-fuel technology. The technology uses O2 and re-circulated flue gasduring the combustion which results in a flue gas mainly consisting of CO2. The flue gascould then be compressed and stored without environmental effects. A problem thatfollows from the compression is the risk of acidification in sensitive parts of the process.Acidification can occur because of reactions following from the contact of condensedwater and sulphur- and nitrogen-oxides which are also present in the flue gas.This report compiles and evaluates the basis of a scientific unit with the purpose ofexploring the possibilities of extracting impurities of SOx and NOx from the flue gases.The dimensions of the unit are based on basic conditions, defined for an existing oxy-fuelprocess at Chalmers, and on the results of computer modelling.