Bark-stripping by red deer (Cervus elaphus) cause extensive damage to economically valuable spruce trees (Picea abies) in Swedish forests. The underlying causes for bark-stripping are not fully understood, and the frequency and severity of damage unpredictably differ between regions. In this study, I investigated if landscape structure (e.g. agricultural dominated landscape opposed to forest dominated landscape), forage availability, population density and disturbance (e.g. roads and settlements) affect bark-stripping frequency.

Since 1993 the Swedish Forestry Administration conducts a nation-wide inventory of wood-land key habitats covering all forest land in Sweden. The inventory aims at mapping and describing habitats where redlisted species occur or can be expected to occur. According to the inventory stand history is crucial to the presence of red-listed species. However, the current knowledge of stand history in woodland key habitats is very limited. The purpose of this work is to describe stand history in woodland key habitats, i.e. fire history, human activities - mainly cuttings - and structural changes.

In 1994 a new Forestry Act was accepted in Sweden. One of the aims of the law is to raise consideration forpreservation of biodiversity. Since the new law got accepted and some time has passed, there now lie someinterest in examining whether the law has been effective towards its purpose. Methods suitable for analysishave been examined during this study. The content of this pilot study is based around five parameters whichcan be used to validate the effects of the new law.

This thesis treats how accountancy companies works to maintain customer relations. This is getting more important in the accounting business because there are several inner and outer factors available that may affect customer relations in this business area. The main question with the thesis is: How works accountancy companies with keeping customers?The purpose with the research was to investigate and identify which inner and outer factors that may be important from a company perspective to keep customers. Another purpose was to investigate if there existed any differences between the companies in how they are handling different factors like for example a law change and how it could affect customer relations.

Young stands in urban forests often lack a shrub layer, though shrubs play an important structural and biological role in forests. All layers interact with one another to form a multilayered stand, in which shrubs have a vital role.In this diploma thesis, theoretical models for forest dynamics are compared with four reference stands to detect factors, and principals for introduction of shrubs in young stands. In these stands four different ways of introduction were found. In one trees and shrubs were planted together at the same time. Shrubs spontaneous spread under a canopy of mature forest, in another.

Not much is today known about how epiphytic lichens are effected by fire. A considerable part of the fires in Sweden today are prescribed fires for the purpose of environmental conservation. How these fires affect lichens is largely unknown. The aim of this study is to find out how epiphytic fruticose and foliose lichens on Scots pine are affected by fire, and to elucidate the relationship between fire intensity and the survival of lichens and later re-colonization. The study was performed at three locations just outside Umeå in Västerbotten that were burned 5-7 years earlier. In all locations there were larger groups of surviving Scots pines with varying amount of fire-damage in the crown, which enabled a reconstruction of fire intensity.

Not much is today known about how epiphytic lichens are effected by fire. A considerable part of the fires in Sweden today are prescribed fires for the purpose of environmental conservation. How these fires affect lichens is largely unknown. The aim of this study is to find out how epiphytic fruticose and foliose lichens on Scots pine are affected by fire, and to elucidate the relationship between fire intensity and the survival of lichens and later re-colonization. The study was performed at three locations just outside Umeå in Västerbotten that were burned 5-7 years earlier. In all locations there were larger groups of surviving Scots pines with varying amount of fire-damage in the crown, which enabled a reconstruction of fire intensity.

Wooded pastures are common in the agricultural landscape in Sweden, often rich in naturaland cultural values. It is not a well confined biotope but consist of a semi-open landscapewith a complex pattern and wide variation of tree and shrub coverage. The values in thewooded pastures have been created through a long history of management.One major threat to wooded pastures is ceasing management. Yearly and intensive grazinghas been demanded for several years in order to receive economical support. At the sametime trees and bushes have often been regarded as vegetal invasion.

The biodiversity of the Swedish forest has degenerated since the beginning of the 19th century when fire suppression and large scale logging first occurred. Together with a changed land use, these actions today have had a negative influence on many forest dwelling species, due to gradual reduction of natural processes, successions and different structures from the forest ecosystem. The Swedish Forest Act, together with different environment certifications, have today encouraged private persons and forest companies, among them Holmen Skog, to work actively to improve nature conservation. The aim of this study was to, by field inventories of already existing nature values, literature studies, recommendations from scientific reports and ecological gap analysis as a basis, make a management plan, for a non-production area, to conserve or improve the prerequisites for biodiversity. ?Storskogsberget? is located in the coastal area of Västerbotten County, 35 km from the city of Umeå.

Bark-stripping by red deer (Cervus elaphus) cause extensive damage to economically valuable spruce trees (Picea abies) in Swedish forests. The underlying causes for bark-stripping are not fully understood, and the frequency and severity of damage unpredictably differ between regions. In this study, I investigated if landscape structure (e.g. agricultural dominated landscape opposed to forest dominated landscape), forage availability, population density and disturbance (e.g. roads and settlements) affect bark-stripping frequency.

I have chosen in this work to examine which factors are affecting the artificially creation of a tree cavity containing decomposed wood. The purpose of the work is to find out which factors are affecting the most when a tree cavity is created, and to apply these results when you artificially try to create a tree cavity. The need to create tree cavities comes from the situation where many tree cavity living beetles finds themselves today. When existing trees are to pass out there will be no suitable inheritors yet. The work was initially to focus on cavities created from cut branches.

Studies have shown that air pollution, as well as bark fissure depth and sun exposure of a tree can have an effect on lichen growth as well as abundance of lichen species. The aim of this study was to find out the relative importance of these factors. 211 oaks in south eastern Sweden were surveyed for presence of 17 lichen species, as well as the total number of lichen species. Half of the trees were situated in urban areas and half in the countryside. For each tree the bark fissure depth was measured and the sun exposure of the trunk was estimated.

The objective of this thesis is to explore opportunities to enhance the phosphorus use efficiencyof inorganic fertilizers in crop production, with techniques available today and in thefuture. Phosphorus is a finite resource of declining quality; therefore a phosphorus use efficiencyin crop production of only 15-30 % is unacceptable. The main reason for low efficiencyis the retention by Ca and Mg in calcareous soils and Fe and Al in non-calcareoussoils. Due to the low mobility of phosphorus, plant uptake is mainly dependent on root growthrather than diffusion. Therefore, measurements need to be taken that benefit contact betweenroot and fertilizer, before fertilizer phosphorus becomes unavailable to the plant.

During the year of 2008, a powerful earthquake hit the southern part of Iceland, which changed the geothermal conditions in the area around the city of Hveragerdi. Elevated soil temperatures in a nearby forest plantation have contributed to a unique opportunity for researchers to study how an increased soil temperature affects the boreal forest ecosystem, something that partly can be connected to the climate changes which are happening today. The boreal forest is representing a carbon sink and a buffert for the emissions that occurs. Changes in this ecosystem will for that reason contribute to major impact for the global carbon cycle. To study the impact of how elevated soil temperatures affects different processes in a plantation of Sitka spruce, studies were made on the photosynthesis of the trees and the respiration from the soil.

Buffer zones play an important role for the water quality in our watercourses. When harvesting a forest close to a watercourse a buffer zone should be left. When it's not left, it will lead to radical changes in the environment for the water organisms. The overall purpose of this thesis was to illuminate the production- and environmental thinking when establishing new buffer zones in south of Värmland. The partials goals were to determine choice of tree species, ways of regenerate, occurrence of soil scarification and the occurrence of machine tracks in newly established buffer zones.