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.

A plant's defensive ability against herbivore attack can be influenced by many different factors, one of them being domestication. During human selection to improve the yield of plants, the resistance against herbivore attack can have been lowered, due to a trade-off for use of resources between these traits in the plants. In this thesis I investigated the effect of domestication on resistance against herbivorous insects in cotton plants. I used different varieties and species of wild and domesticated cotton in three different experiments. A feeding assay was conducted, the mortality, development time and pupal weight of larvae of the Egyptian cotton leaf worm Spodoptera littoralis was studied. In a second experiment the preference of the root-feeding beetle Agriotes spp.

Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning: Småvatten i form av dammar och våtmarker har en viktig funktion i både den terrestraoch akvatiska miljön. De fungerar till exempel som buffert för näringsämnen från attflöda ut i havet och dem ökar den biologiska mångfalden bland växter och djur.De flesta antropogena småvattnen har sitt ursprung från 1800-talet och 1900-taletsbörjan, då näringsrik märgellera grävdes upp från åkrar och hålen på åkrar fylldes uppmed nederbörd. I samband med jordbrukets effektivisering så jämnades många avdessa märgelhålor och antalet småvetten minskade avsevärt. Sedan mitten på 1980-talet har småvatten och våtmarker uppmärksammats i en rad olika miljöprojekt iSkåne.Syftet med denna magister uppsats i ämnet Naturgeografi är att uppskatta samt att i ettlängre perspektiv få reda på hur dessa småvatten förändringar skett de senaste 60 årenoch vilka effekter det haft för omgivningen. Metoden som användes var fjärranalys ikombination med fältbesök samt skärmdigitalisering i ett GIS.

In conventional viscose manufacturing, a large amount of carbondisulfide is consumed. This amount has to be decreased to keep the production cost down and to reduce the environmental impact. The purpose with this work was to show if an enzyme treatment of a dissolving pulp could increase the degree of substitution in the viscose so that the amount of carbon disulfide consumed in the process could be decreased. Previous investigations by Kvarnlöf (2007), Engström et.al. (2006) and Henriksson et.al.

This study was based on measurements of growth and shape of 50 clones of wild cherry, Prunus avium L, in south Sweden and aimed at finding out wether or not any of these clones are useful for commercial propagation. Initially, a short assembly of documented knowledge concerning wild cherry as a timber producing tree species was put together. The study of the 50 clones includes information gathered during the fall of 2006 from four trials located in the counties of Blekinge, Småland and Västergöland. The oldest trial, founded in Tranemåla, Blekinge, in 1992, was focused on offspring and aimed at discerning differences between provenances and at developing an adapted plant material. The other experiments were both clone trials and founded in 2002. These are based on 50 individuals selected from the offspring trial in Tranemåla.

Examensarbetet är utfört på Lifco Dental, som är ett distributionsföretag i Enköping undervårterminen 2013 och omfattar 30 högskolepoäng. Lifco Dentals huvudsakliga verksamhet ärlagerhantering av tandläkarartiklar och det rör sig om cirka 40 000 artiklar i varierandestorlek.Examensarbetet avser i första hand styrning av lagerhållning och artikelplacering. Andraområden som har bearbetas är ergonomi och personalfrågor. Arbetet kretsar kring följandeforskningsfrågor;1. Enligt vilka principer kan man placera artiklar?2.

I både kvalitets- och kontrollarbete finns det behov att kunskapsmässigt komma så nära verkligheten som möjligt vid fastställande av defektparametrar för oförstörande provning (OFP). Orsaken är att olika acceptanskrav och bedömningsgränser är svåra att klarlägga när man inte kan förlita sig på att uppgifter är realistiska. I projektet har olika erfarenheter använts för att få en bättre helhetsbild i området för defektparametrar och oförstörande provning.Denna rapport redovisar den inledande delen av forskning och utvecklingsprojektet PLANT 2, där olika defektparametrar kartlagts och en teoretisk bedömning utförts med avseende på hur signalsvaret påverkas för OFP-metoderna virvelström (ET) och ultraljudsprovning (UT) i form av puls-eko (PE) och ?time-of-flight-diffraction? (TOFD).Definitionen av redovisade defektparametrar följer i stort SKI-rapport 95:70 [1]. Defektparametrar i denna rapport redovisas i bilaga 1.Vid bedömningen av defektparametrarnas inverkan på OFP-tekniker, har drift¬inducerande defekter och tillverkningsdefekter hanterats separat.

I både kvalitets- och kontrollarbete finns det behov att kunskapsmässigt komma så nära verkligheten som möjligt vid fastställande av defektparametrar för oförstörande provning (OFP). Orsaken är att olika acceptanskrav och bedömningsgränser är svåra att klarlägga när man inte kan förlita sig på att uppgifter är realistiska. I projektet har olika erfarenheter använts för att få en bättre helhetsbild i området för defektparametrar och oförstörande provning.Denna rapport redovisar den inledande delen av forskning och utvecklingsprojektet PLANT 2, där olika defektparametrar kartlagts och en teoretisk bedömning utförts med avseende på hur signalsvaret påverkas för OFP-metoderna virvelström (ET) och ultraljudsprovning (UT) i form av puls-eko (PE) och ?time-of-flight-diffraction? (TOFD).Definitionen av redovisade defektparametrar följer i stort SKI-rapport 95:70 [1]. Defektparametrar i denna rapport redovisas i bilaga 1.Vid bedömningen av defektparametrarnas inverkan på OFP-tekniker, har drift¬inducerande defekter och tillverkningsdefekter hanterats separat.

Storage of biomass is often associated with problems such as heat development, dry matter losses and reduction of fuel quality. The rise in temperature can potentially cause a risk of self-ignition in the fuel storage. Moreover, emissions from storage piles can cause health problems in the surrounding. The dry matter losses and reduction of fuel quality can have economical effects. The aim of this thesis project is to develop guidelines on how to store large amount of biomass at Vattenfalls heat and power plants in an optimal way.

The sludgebark and to a certain extent the bark were until a decade ago waste products without any economic value that were thrown away. A number of environmental laws and increcing energy prices have improved the prerequisites for increasing the use of these materials. At Seskarö sawmill they burn the sludgebark and a great deal of the bark in the sawmill furnace. The sludgebark has a number of disadvantages compared to bark during burning. The sludgebark is often wet which means the energy net from burning often gets low.

This thesis has been made on behalf of Forsmarks Kraftgrupp AB and is the final part of the education of Bachelor of Engineering in ? Innovation, production and logistics atMälardalens Högskola.Forsmark nuclear power plant is located in Östhammars municipality at the coast of Uppland. The three nuclear reactors in Forsmark together produces approximately one-sixth of Sweden?s electricity consumption each year.The background of this study is that a large number of requests come to the purchasing department with incomplete information. Usually it is in the description of what is to be acquired as the information is incomplete, but also in knowing when Quality Control-functions (QC) is supposed to be used.The aim of this work is to describe and analyse the material acquisition process.

In a city sometimes conflicts arise between either to save the species-rich vacant lots where many species thrive, or to build new buildings. Green roofs can then serve as a refuge for plants and animals that have had their natural habitat destroyed or diminished. Today we know too little about green roofs contribution to the biodiversity in the cities. We also know very little about how various types of vegetation on roof can increase biodiversity and its ability to attract different species.The aim with this study was to examine how different types of vegetation on the roofs affect the biodiversity of the invertebrate and how species-composition and number of individuals differ between the roof- and groundlevel.This study has been carried out on Augustenborg Botanical Roof Gardens in Malmo, and in an area about 1.5 kilometers away from Augustenborg. Three different types of vegetation on the roof and ground floor were selected: sedum- ruderal and grass.

The boiling properties are an important quality issue of the potato. In order to obtain adequate boiling properties the growth of the potato needs to be controlled and interrupted at the right time. However, it is difficult to determine when to stop the growth. Specific gravity can easily be measured and can sometimes be used as a tool for estimating the boiling properties. This report discusses different aspects of the specific gravity of the potato and how it can be used as a tool to determine the appropriate time for vine killing.

The boiling properties are an important quality issue of the potato. In order to obtain adequate boiling properties the growth of the potato needs to be controlled and interrupted at the right time. However, it is difficult to determine when to stop the growth. Specific gravity can easily be measured and can sometimes be used as a tool for estimating the boiling properties. This report discusses different aspects of the specific gravity of the potato and how it can be used as a tool to determine the appropriate time for vine killing.

At the end of April 1986 reactor number 4 of the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl explod-ed and large amounts of radioactive particles were then released into the atmosphere due to both the explosion as well as the consecutive fire of the graphite core. A cloud of radioac-tivity was spread over the northern hemisphere, including Sweden, due to the prevailing wind directions. The radioactive particles were washed out from the cloud by rain and snowfall in some areas of Sweden and deposited on the ground. The deposited radionu-clides, primarily cesium and iodine isotopes, were later absorbed into the soil and taken up by the roots of the plants. Some of these radionuclides, like 137Cs, still persist in some of the terrestrial ecosystems at relatively high concentrations which lead to contamination of the meat of moose, roe deer and wild boar even today.The two municipalities Heby and Uppsala, in the eastern part of central Sweden, experi-enced a relatively large deposition of 137Cs which resulted in high levels of 137Cs in moose and other game.