In the middle of the 19th century was Calluna heath the major nature type in Halland, but the remaining parts today is only 1 500 hectares which is a 99 % decrease of the Calluna heath mainly due to an increase in forest plantations and arable fields. I have made a quantitative study how the Calluna heath of Grönabur & Sandsjöbacka has changed between 1841 and 2005 and why it didn?t disappear in the same manner, as it did in other parts of Halland. The studying of original sources as historical maps, literature and by doing field visits has been significant for the final result. The main reason for the different development of the Calluna heath in the investigation area (69 % decrease), compare to elsewhere in Halland, is the establishment and management of a Nature reserve..

People have used forest resources in northern Sweden for different purposes. Before the 20th century the forest was used for many different reasons, but during the past 200 years it has become an industrial raw material. The presence of people in the forest has left different kinds of traces in the forests. One example is culturally modified trees (CMT´s). The aim of this study was to study and document how people have used the forest resources during the last centuries in Brännlidens Nature reserve, and what kind of traces this land use has left.

Nature and culture are often described as opposites, but at the same time nature is often de-scribed as culture and past. This essay examines how nature and the past are culture. I study how 51 people make shifting distinctions between nature and the past in relation to culture, the present and the future. By using the concept of Orientation of Sarah Ahmed I analyze how the informants direct themselves against nature, past and culture through a questionnaire, ob-servations and walk-alongs. I discuss how their ideas about nature and the past differ with their different starting points and are shaped through their physical meetings with them.

Nature and culture are often described as opposites, but at the same time nature is often de-scribed as culture and past. This essay examines how nature and the past are culture. I study how 51 people make shifting distinctions between nature and the past in relation to culture, the present and the future. By using the concept of Orientation of Sarah Ahmed I analyze how the informants direct themselves against nature, past and culture through a questionnaire, ob-servations and walk-alongs. I discuss how their ideas about nature and the past differ with their different starting points and are shaped through their physical meetings with them.

This Masters thesis is made as the first of two visitor surveys of three urban forest areas. These areas are; Skutan recreational area in Haninge, Ugglevikskällan on Norra Djurgården in Stockholm and the Paradiset Reserve in Huddinge. The study is made in cooperation with the managers of the three areas operating within the European Union Life Project regarding Urban Woods for People. The goal has been to collect data through studies of visitors and close by residents in the three areas. The results are to be used as primary values for the follow-up as well as a basis for managerial decisions. The interviews and surveys are also constructed in a fashion so that they can be used for the follow-up study. For the Skutan recreational area the mode of contact was by sending forms to the nearby residential areas.

During the late 1800s fire suppression became increasingly effective in northern Sweden which led to decreased areas of fire-disturbed woodland and successive changes in the structure of forests. In the long run this can pose a serious threat to fire-dependent and fire-favored species. Today some fire-prone forest reserves are burned as a nature conservation act. Often partial cuttings are made before burning, with somewhat different motives. The purpose of the study in Långsidberget Nature reserve was to give a general picture of forest history and its affect on today?s forest condition, and to show how partial cuttings affect burning conditions and results. Långsidberget is located close to areas that were colonized during the Middle Ages.

Svenska Kraftnät is (together with the other transmission system operators of the Nordic power system) responsible for keeping balance between the generated and demanded power in the Nordic power system. Spontaneous load variations and system disturbances, however, lead to power imbalance followed by frequency variations. The frequency deviations can be limited to an acceptable level by the spinning reserve, mainly by hydro power control. But there are also other system properties which have a great influence on the frequency and system stability. The frequency and voltage dependence of the loads have a direct influence on the power balance.

Increased interest in nature tourism may be what saves small and dying villages, like Borgsjo? in the county of Va?sterbotten in northern Sweden, from disappearing. The nearly untouched nature in these areas is in many cases an unused resource, since true wildlife experiences are sought by many travelers. The purpose with this report is to investigate if Borgsjo? has the potential and abilities to become a destination for nature tourists, and how this should be done to avoid negative effects on nature, wildlife and culture.

Nature conservation agreement (NCA) is a way to voluntarily protect and manage nature for limited time-periods. The agreement is settled between the government and a landowner. All public authorities can represent the government but it is only the Swedish Forest Administration who does that regularly (because it is the only authority with economic resources for that purpose). Therefore, NCAs are almost only used to protect forested nature. The government agencies have experienced NCAs for about ten years and it is now time to examine how they are applied in the forests. This study is based on a computerized questionnaire to the persons responsible for the LEKO-projekt.

AimThe aim of this study is to examine students' previous experiences of stay in the nature and their experiences of nature in the context of teaching situations in friluftsliv at GIH. It also aims to elucidate how the teaching of friluftsliv at GIH affects their former interpretation about nature. The questions of the study are: What past experiences of stay in the nature elucidate GIH-students? Have the students approach to nature changed according to the education? If yes ? how? What affects students' perception of nature? MethodTo answer the questions, a quantitative approach (questionnaire survey) and qualitative methods (interview study) was used. The qualitative method is based on phenomenology and hermeneutics.

In nature settings people often experience positive emotions. Litterature and theories about the positive effect of nature on humans are largely based upon visual impressions and aesthetic preference. The purpose of the present study is to examine how visually impaired individuals that lack visual impressions experience nature. The background is about what it means to be visually impaired and what it is like to be visually impaired in a nature setting, followed by a presentation of the five human senses and about stimulation of senses in healing gardens. That is followed by theories about the health promoting effect of nature, about why nature and therapeutic gardens make people feel good. After that theories about experiences and relations with settings are presented.

Syftet med uppsatsen, att utreda de skillnader i rättsverkningar som finns mellan Natura 2000-områden och vanliga naturreservat,har jag uppnått genom att använda mig av traditionell juridisk metod. Genom att jämföra lagtextformuleringar, förarbeten och bakgrund till bestämmelserna om de två områdesskydden har jag funnit att reglerna om Natura 2000-områden har en betydligt större räckvidd än bestämmelserna för vanliga naturreservat. Allehanda verksamheter och åtgärder omfattas av den särskilda tillståndprövning som gäller för ingrepp i Natura 2000-områden, medan vanliga naturreservat har begränsad räckvidd till de ingrepp som stadgas i reservatsföreskrifterna. Jag har även funnit skillnader när det gäller inrättandet och upphävandet av områdesskydd, och resultatet är att EU-kommissionen utövar en stark kontroll vad gäller Natura 2000-områden. Kommissionen kan tvinga medlemsstaterna att inrätta särskilt skyddat område, och om medlemsstaten vill upphäva skyddet måste samråd ske med kommissionen.

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.

The supply of uninterruptible power can be applied to many areas wherecontinuous operation is highly prioritized.The application of uninterruptible power for motor operation is facilitatedusing a frequency converter. Direct current operated frequency converters canbe applied directly to the power reserve which removes the need for additionalpower-converting.Batteries have long constituted the power reserve but advancements inthe development of ultracapacitors have created a viable substitution. Ultra-capacitors have high energy storing capabilities and can be applied to highpower applications.Maxwell is a leading manufacturing company of ultracapacitors and pro-vide different modules with built-in solutions for voltage balancing. Unevenvoltages between series-connected capacitors is a phenomenon caused by vary-ing capacitance. A configuration containing Maxwell?s 56V module is createdand constitutes the power reserve in the simulations.The discharge simulation shows a significant current that could damagethe system.

The attitudes towards nature conservation in forestry are based on the individual forest owner. The theme of the interviews is the opinion on nature conservation in forestry. The purpose of this study is to identify if there is any difference in attitude to nature conservation in forestry according to the age of the forest owner. The study discusses different factors that affect the private forest owners consideration of nature conservation and give an insight in different generations attitude to nature conservation. Other topics that are discussed is if future change of generation will change the consideration of nature conservation in Swedish forestry and what is needed to enhance the interest in nature conservation among forest owners.This study is the result of interviews with a number of forest owners in the county of Uppsala, Sweden.