Aquaponics is a food production system consisting of a consecutive cultivation of plants and aquatic animals, fish or shellfish, in recirculating water. The plants feed on the nutritious effluents from the fish tank and bacteria converts ammonia from the fish tank into nitrate that is absorbed by the plants. The plants receive nutrition and the fish gain purified water. The environmental impact of the production of fish meal and fish oil used in conventional fish feed includes a large consumption of fossil fuels with subsequent carbon dioxide emission. The aquaponic system can be made environmentally sustainable and self-supporting if supplemented with a vermicompost/vermiculture for the production of worm protein as a fish feed. Vegetable waste from the hydroponic part of the system can be reused as worm feed in the compost and the protein rich worms can be harvested, dried and grinded and brought back to the aquaculture as fish feed. As a first step in this direction, I have investigated the effect of recycling of vegetable waste in vermicomposts on the growth and number of earthworms (this was evaluated after harvesting). The hypotheses were that earthworms can be cultivated in the vegetable waste and that by adding manure to the vermicompost it is possible to obtain a nutrient content adequate to support a continuous worm harvest, in other words create a vermiculture. Eisenia fetida and Dendrobaena veneta were grown in 20 L bins containing Peat mixed with either poultry or cattle manure. The proportions were 70% Peat and 30 % manure. Discarded plant parts from lettuce cultivation was added to the vermicomposts (35 g per week) and water was supplied with 0.8 L per week.

Detta examensarbete innehåller en beskrivning av växter som under olika förhållanden trivs och kan växa i områden med delvis eller hel skugga. Beskrivningarna av växterna är översiktliga och ämnar inte informera läsaren grundligt om växten utan enbart om enklare fakta för att kunna planera sin trädgård. Jag har valt att inrikta mig på markförhållande beroende på klimatet (torr, fuktig och blöt mark) och markförhållande beroende på substratet (sand, lera, humus och torv) samt temperaturbundna växter. Därefter följer en slutsats där jag reflekterar över mitt arbete. ***********This thesis contains a description of plants that thrive and can grow under different conditions in areas with partial or full shade.

The purpose of this study was to examine the goals, possibilities and rationales that could be found in the discussions concerning the digging of ditches by governmental subsidiaries in order to drain the Peat bogs of late nineteenth century Sweden. A further aim was to look at the effect on the landscape on a local level i.e. Släthults moss in Bäckaby parish, Småland in the south eastern part of Sweden. In order to be able to explain the connections between politics and landscape changes in a local population and its deciding bodies, influenced by ideas, science and production, a quadruple helix model developed from a triple helix model by Björn-Ola Linér was used. As a model of environmental history, three step thought was used, borrowed from Donald Worster.

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.

About a quarter of the Swedish land area is covered with shallow or thick Peat. There is a potential to increase forest production in Sweden with almost 2 million m3/year in selected Peatlands with low conservation values. This increase can be accomplished by drainage, complementary drainage, ditch maintenance operations and fertilization. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of knowledge regarding the management of forests on Peatlands and was restricted to selected forest companies in Västerbotten County, with offices in Umeå. Three companies were chosen, SCA, Holmen and Norra Skogsägarna.

One key factor in silviculture today is sustainability. In order to achieve sustainability it may be important to restore lost nutrients to the forest after clearcutting. In order to calculate the removal, you need to know how much of different elements you will find in different tree compartments. The aim of this study was to investigate if the concentration of elements in different tree compartments of spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) were related to the moisture conditions of the site. Five plots at Risfallet (60º 21´ N, 16º 13´ E), was placed along a moisture gradient in a 40- year spruce stand.

The resting area is the most important place in the barn for the dairy cow, sometimes called the heart of the free stall system. Inadequate design of the lying area, and lack of or poor quality of bedding materials may reduce the hygiene of the stall. Poor management regarding the cleanliness of the resting area may lead to poor animal hygiene and increased bacterial growth. This in turn will lead to increased risk for environmental mastitis as well as impairing milk quality through contamination with spores. In this literature study the most commonly used bedding materials; straw, sawdust, wood shavings, clean sand, recycled sand, Peat and recycled manure solids, are compared to one another with regards to their ability to resist bacterial growth. Effects of adding hydrated lime to bedding materials have also been studied. Most bacteria need humidity and prefer a quite high water activity to be able to grow.

Syftet med detta arbete är att, med hjälp av GIS och lagerföljdsdata, utforma en metodik för modellering och förståelse av våtmarker och deras utbredning. Metodiken ska, med hjälp av GIS, underlätta och förbereda för en mera automatiserad analys av lagerföljdsdata. Detta involverar flera steg: (1) Strukturering och urval av relevanta data utifrån en stor mängd geografisk och geologisk information; (2) framtagning av åldersmodeller utifrån daterade borrkärnor för beräkning av tillväxthastighet hos olika jordarter; (3) Utveckling och implementering av ett datorprogram för beräkning av våtmarksnivå vid olika tidssteg. Beräkningen skall baseras på de, utifrån åldersmodellerna, beräknade tillväxthastigheterna för jordarter i olika borrkärnor; (4) Interpolation av framräknade höjdvärden till kontinuerliga ytor där förändring av våtmarkernas area och volym vid olika tidpunkter kan bestämmas. I denna studie beräknades utbredningen för två våtmarker vid tiderna 0, 1000, 2000 och 6000 år sedan.

Ökad efterfrågan på virke har lett till ett ökat intresse för och användande av olika produktionshöjande åtgärder. En sådan åtgärd är dikesrensning som innebär att befintliga diken eller dikessystem rensas för att de skall bibehålla eller återfå sin ursprungligt avvattnande och produktionshöjande funktion. Sveaskog avser att öka omfattningen av dikesrensning. Därför behövs en kartläggning av behovet på deras marker. På samma gång behöver produktionseffekterna och livslängden på dikena utrönas. Studien genomfördes via en studie av befintlig litteratur om skogsproduktionseffekter efter dikesrensning och dikning samt förfall och livslängd hos diken.

Deep litter is a system for animals kept in separate stalls, loafing and bedding in wind shelters. The litter can consist of different bedding, like straw and Peat. The system is allowed to build over and to ensure optimal proportions it is necessary to add new straw regularly and to have good conditions. Important conditions are aerobic state, humidity, amount of organic substance and acceptable temperatures in the litter. The micro organisms are depending on temperature for their living conditions and to get the bottom layer in the litter to start burning.

In Sweden there are about 4 million hectares of bare Peat (mire). This land has great potential to be transformed into productive forest land, provided drainage is carried out and, in some cases, even fertilization with ashes. Drainage of mires is necessary because the high groundwater table prevents trees from growing due to reduced oxygen availability. Some of the key nutrients that trees need to grow appear in too small quantities in mires, especially potassium (K) and phosphorus (P). Ash from the combustion of biomass contains these elements and is therefore suitable as a fertilizer.

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.

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.

Föryngring av skog är en nödvändig, men kostsam åtgärd och därför är det eftersträvansvärt att hitta en föryngringsmetod som är både kostnadseffektiv och ger en bra föryngring. Ett sätt att få en billigare föryngringsåtgärd är att använda frösådd. Vid en lyckad sådd gör det stora plantuppslaget att plantorna får bra förutsättningar för god kvalitet. Dessa plantor får dessutom bättre rotutveckling och stabilitet än planterade plantor. Användningen av skogssådd är dock begränsad av bl.a.

The level of cadmium (Cd) in Swedish arable land has increased during the last century and the average concentration of Cd in the plough layer is today 0.23 mg/kg. The increase is mainly due to anthropogenic activities such as phosphorus fertilizing, liming, import of feed, and atmospheric deposition from industrial emissions. Cadmium in the soil will be taken up by crops and is thereby transferred to humans via food. Carrot is one of the crops of concern, both because it may contain quite high Cd concentrations and due to the large consumption in Sweden. In the body, Cd is stored mainly in the liver and the kidneys and may cause several diseases already at low concentrations.