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 study was made on former agricultural areas that had been planted with spruce or pine, in the county of Västerbotten. The goal of the project was to investigate suspected deficiency of boron in these areas. Several objects have been reported for possible deficiency and some of these have the characteristic symptoms of boron-deficiency. The hypotheses are that 1) Boron deficiency is present at several of the investigated objects. 2) Planting of forest on cultivated postglacial sediments leads to a successive podzolisation with a decreasing content of organic matter in the mineral soil, due to decomposition, and a decreasing pH in the soil, even on locations that have been added lime. To be able to confirm or reject the hypotheses a number of tests were performed.

Clearcutting systems have been the dominating silvicultural approach during the last decades in the Nordic countries. While economically rational, it is also leading to a trivialisation of the flora and fauna, and may result in negative reactions of people in urban settings. As a consequence of this, and a more diversified view on which goods and services forests should deliver, there is an increasing interest in broadening the range of silvicultural methods that are used. The term continuous cover forestry (CCF) represents a suite of methods that have gained increasing interest in the Nordic countries. In CCF a considerable amount of the trees are left after harvest to favour values that require a continuity of tree-covered areas. There are thus hopes that this method will meet the needs for maintaining biodiversity and satisfy social and cultural values.

This work was conducted during spring and summer 2012 together with the company Uppsala Academy of Management as the principal. The two main objectives for the work are that: ? Make a comparison between the measured volume in the standing forest and the measured volume at the industry on Uppsala Academy of Managements actual stumpage sale volume to see how well it conforms. ? Examine if the buyers see any particular advantages or disadvantages of actual stumpage sale volume and what they think of Uppsala Academy of Managements actual stumpage sale volume and structure in general. I chose to use actual stumpage sale volume from the tree years 2009, 2010 and 2011 in my work. I divided the actual stumpage sale volume following four categories which was pine, spruce, pine/spruce and seed trees. After that I picked out sixteen actual stumpage sale volumes from each category to be a part of the work.

Med nuvarande trend kommer snart all skog bortsett från de skyddade områdena att vara påverkade av trakthyggesbruk. Denna studie inom Vilhelmina kommun och Vilhelmina Model Forest visar hur skogslandskapet i sydöstra delen av Vilhelmina har påverkats sedan trakthyggesbruket infördes, med störst påverkan i den sydöstra delen och minst i den västra delen närmast fjällkedjan. Detta arbete har syftat till att analysera hur skogar som inte blivit brukade med trakthyggesbruk och nyckelbiotoper är fördelade geografiskt, och hur de sammanfaller geografiskt, inom ett stort landskapsavsnitt i den sydöstra delen av Vilhelmina kommun. Studien har också syftat till att visa om storleken på skogsområden med sammanhängande opåverkad skog har betydelse för antal och areal registrerade nyckelbiotoper och om det finns någon trend från sydöst till väst. Alla analyser för arbetet har skett i ArcGIS med hjälp av kartmaterial av registrerade nyckelbiotoper och kalavverkade skogar från Vilhelmina Model Forest. Resultatet visade att 63 % av arealen nyckelbiotop i den sydöstra delen av kommunen ligger i skog som inte blivit genomhuggen med trakthyggesbruk.

To identify the underlying forces behind a product hype is difficult and the findings often seem random and unclear. To create a better understanding behind the affecting mechanisms would consequently be a valuable addition to the surrounding research area. The purpose of this paper is to understand if there exist common denominators between different product hypes and in such a case, which these are and how they function. By conducting a case-study on four products which have enjoyed immense sale success on the Swedish market, the possible presence of structural resemblance will be analyzed. From the study we can conclude common denominators such as the presence of an underlying trend and an overbalance of indirect decision basis do exist.

Detta arbete utförs efter en förfrågan från Uddeholm Tooling om att försöka kartlägga riskerna på inköpsmarknaden för metallerna krom, molybden och vanadin. Då detta anses vara mycket svårt föreslås här istället en kartläggning av marknaden för respektive metall, detta för att ge en bild av hur marknaden ser ut och vilka aktörer som finns.Frågorna som behandlas är var bryts, förädlas, konsumeras respektive metall? Hur varierar priserna, beskrivs priserna bäst med en random walk eller med en mean reverting stokastisk process.Det visar sig relativt snart att det är mycket problematiskt att inhämta relevant data. Speciellt då dessa metaller inte handlas öppet utan där kontrakten mellan köpare och säljare är konfidentiella. Priserna som rapporteras baseras på månatliga intervjuer med köpare, säljare och traders som utförs av branschmagasin.

Aspen (Populus tremula L.) and goat willow (Salix caprea L.) are two important tree species in the aspect of nature conservation. Due to the elimination of forest fires, a former negative attitude towards deciduous trees in forestry and a strong herbivore pressure, these tree species have been negatively affected during the last fifty years. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the occurrence of aspen and goat willow could be related to either human impact or to site properties, such as ground moisture and vegetation type. A side study included an inventory of a number of cyanobacterial tree lichens on aspen and goat willow in order to try to relate the occurrence of these lichens species to stand history and stand properties. The study was performed in Hamra State Forest in northern Dalarna. Nature reserves were compared with stands in managed areas.

This report was written as a final thesis within the Department of forest economics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences as a completion of the M.SC Forestry programme. The aim of this study was to create a model that, with respect to given stock levels, temperature, fuel usage and fuel price, would identify the optimal levels for purchase of bio fuels, optimal levels of incineration of bio fuels and the sum of the present values of all costs. The model would be applicable for a larger district heating plant. Data regarding temperature were received from SMHI. Information considering fuel prices was taken from the Swedish Forest Agency and the facts about fuel usage were collected from a large district heating plant, located in the southwest of Sweden. For the temperature, a sinus curve was adapted to describe the temperature over a year.

Som skoglig sektorsmyndighet är det Skogsstyrelsens uppgift att omsätta regeringens skogspolitiska mål i praktiken. De behöver därför ha kunskap om deras arbete faktiskt ger effekter i skogsbruket. Ett verktyg för att undersöka effekter är utvärderingar. Genom en utvärdering kan Skogsstyrelsen se vilka effekterna är samt få ett underlag till att förändra och utveckla framtida projekt. Denna studie syftade till att utvärdera effekter hos deltagare avseende kunskapsinhämtning och användningsgrad samt deltagarnas upplevelse av vattenkvällarna i projektet Skogsbruk och vatten inom Landsbygdsprogrammet hos Skogsstyrelsen i Östergötland.

Total protection is often the option chosen when protecting forests with high environmental values. An alternative to total protection is application of management regimes that do not interrupt continuity of tree cover. This study focuses mainly on continuous cover forestry (CCF) in forest stands already protected. All objects are situated in the county of Jämtland in northwest Sweden. The purpose of the study was to attain a greater knowledge about CCF practices.

Pulsatilla vernalis is one of several endangered plant species that benefit from wildfires and small scale disturbance events that repel competing vegetation and create open patches in the vegetation cover. Previous studies argue that Pulsatilla vernalis is decreasing in numbers due to vegetation changes associated with the decrease in wildfires, forest grazing and changes in forest management. In this study, 17 populations of P. vernalis were inventoried in order to examine if soil and/or vegetation structures affect the population structure of P. vernalis (i.e.

The aim of this thesis is to find a statistical model that sort logs according to a predicted modulus of elasticity on the sawn boards. The input parameters for the model are X-ray variables from an X-ray scanner. For some of the log classes sawn at the sawmill it is desirable to have a narrow distribution of modulus of elasticity on the sawn boards. 250 pine logs from five different diameter classes were numbered and followed through the sawmill process. Log data were collected from X-ray and 3-D scanners in the log intake.

Rotundus AB är ett världsledande företag inom området för sfäriska robotar som håller på att utveckla den markbundna farkosten GroundBot(tm). För att detektera robotens translations- och rotationsrörelser används accelerometrar och hastighetsgyron. Dessutom används sensorerna för tröghetsnavigering när GPS-täckning saknas.Målet med projektet innebär att ta fram en metod för att utvärdera precisionen hos sensorer för robotens tröghetsnavigeringsenhet. Metoden koncentrerar sig på fyra av sensorernas felkällor: Skalfaktor, bias, slumpvandring och biasinstabilitet.För att beräkna skalfaktorn och biasen används linjära minsta kvadratmetoden där utsignalen från sensorn anpassas mot ett teoretiskt värde. Slumpvandringen och biasinstabiliteten utvärderas med Allans varians..

This study was performed in an afforestation experiment established 1982 on an abandoned peat harvesting area, Flakmossen, in the province of Värmland, SW Sweden. The experimen-tal design include planting with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), in combination with various drainage intensities (20, 30, and 40 m between ditches), and fertilizer doses 0, 100, and 200 g PK per seedling applied at the date of planting. The aim of this study was to achieve more knowledge about the conditions on afforestation of peat harvesting areas, especially regarding drainage intensity and fertilization requirements, by means of determining the stand growth and yield in the Flakmossen trial. The forest growth did not differ significantly between the drainage intensities tested when the same amount of phosphor and potassium fertilizer was added. Thus, shorter distances between ditches than 40 m can not be recommended. When no fertilization was carried out seedling survival was very low, and the growth of sur-vived seedlings was poor. The largest diameter and height growth were observed in the areas where the highest dose of phosphorus and potassium (200g/seedling) was given.