This degree project investigates how elk, roe deer, red deer and fallow deer can affect an estate in Östergötland. The inventories performed within this project, were completed on an estate in Selesjö, northern Östergötland. This property is used to demonstrate wildlife management. The methods used in this study were originally developed for areas larger than individual properties. Three inventories were completed in the study. These included the recording of the number of droppings and the amount of eaten pasturage, as well as the level of damage on young trees.

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.

This essay is about a deserted medieval habitation called Skyttsie Hage which is located in the south of Sweden in the Scania province where it lies on a moor on the Falsterbopeninsula. Remains of five to six larger buildings have been found here with a surrounding earthwork, although it's not known for sure what kind of habitation they have been part of. Local folklore from the 17:th century states the area as a place where pirates lived, and that this was the reason for it's devastation. Another says that there once stood a breedingfarm belonging to the danish crown. Archaeologists have made several speculations which includes a deer park, a royal estate, an isolated farm or a smaller village.

The main aim was to investigate the provenance of Viking age antler material findings of moose and red deer from Sigtuna and from three sites on the island of Gotland in the Baltic sea. This was done by analysis of the stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur. Thre were never any living population of these mammals on Gotland during the Viking age.?34S-values of sulphur from this study was compared with earlier research and by studying maps of the Swedish bedrock. The ?34S-values were more like the ?34S-value for bedrock other than European granite.

This multiple use forestry plan is made on the property Basunda which is located in the southern parts of the province Östergötland. The owners of the property today are Jonas and Ulrik Saanum, but it has been in the family since their grandfather bought it 1933. There is a slaughterhouse on the property in which they take care of domestic cattle and animals from the forest. Jonas and Ulrik are also dedicated hunters. These are the two reasons to why the focus is wildlife and wildlife management. The question at issue of this work is simplified: what demands does the wildlife have; and how will the owners be able to fulfill these, what changes in the forest management must be made and will these changes result in a different budget, compared to the ordinary forest management. This work is based from a freshly made forestry management plan. I based my fieldwork on this plan, but made my own management proposals, that would benefit the game.

Game fields are one way to divert animals away from sensitive areas, create shelter and forage, and also to increase the biological diversity. In this study I investigated how the plant composition in six different crop mixes used for game fields affected the biomass production, biomass consumption and biological diversity at the Koberg estate in southwestern Sweden. Six experimental fields were used and each field contained six plots, approximately 1500 m2 each, that was sown with a different crop mix. The crop mixes ranged from a pure grass mix (A), 70 % grass and 30 % leguminous plants (B), 53 % grass, 21 % leguminous plants and 26 % other herbs (C), 100 % leguminous plants (D) to the most complex mixes constituting of 91 % leguminous plants and 9 % other herbs (E) and 87 % leguminous plants and 13 % other herbs (F). The fields were cut weekly during the summer in 2010, to estimate weekly biomass production.

Energy is an essential part of the society and for a sustainable future we need to use the energy resources in a sustainable way. The forest is Sweden?s most important resource for renewable energy and a higher production combined with shorter rotation periods (time from planting to clear cutting) can increase the access to energy. The tree genus poplar (Populus spp.) is interesting as energy resource as it has both high production and short rotation period. But browsing ungulates are a major threat to the establishment of poplar plants and therefore the poplar plantations need to be fenced in today. To use fences is expensive and time consuming; this makes it interesting to find more cost-effective solutions where there is no need to fence. The aim with this study was to look at the ungulates? occupation rate and browsing pressure in poplar plantations without fence.

This survey was made during the autumn of 2002 and the beginning of 2003, on commission from the National Board of Forestry. The purpose with the survey was to gather experience and knowledge in the organisation about fencing and this was made through interviews. The ambition was also to get knowledge from people outside the organisation that have great experience of forestry and fencing. The interviews were based on questions that have been composed by the author with help from the supervisors. The questions were the same to both the personal from the National Board of Forestry and to the foresters. Interviews were also made with private landowners, gamekeepers, game researcher, the County Administrative Board, the National Road Administration, pole and net retailers and contractors. The target group for this work is the National Board of Forestry to be forwarded to persons interested in forestry with the ambition to spread knowledge about how to prevent damage on the forest by browsing animals. The deer populations are big in the south of Sweden and growing populations have increased the damage on plantations of broadleaves of the most species.

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.

Today we have more game species than ever before in our landscape, both regarding number of species and number of individuals. The increasing number of wild species is an increase in game recourse for the countryside. The increase of game species, however, has negative effects on forests and agriculture land. The negative effects for forestry are damages on economic important trees, due to losses in production and quality. However there are ways to decrease the damage on valuable and important trees.

Wildlife is a valuable and renewable resource that promotes economical, ecological and social values. These values are important for developing and maintaining many rural societies. However, growing ungulate populations have led to increased browsing pressure on valuable forest trees and crops. Previous studies have proposed supplementary feeding and gamefields as potential methods for controlling the ungulate foraging and reducing browsing damage by providing other attractive food resources. However, quantitative estimates of potential biomass production of various gamefield crops and browsing pressure on the surrounding forest have been lacking.

Herbivore impact on the Swedish forest has under a long time been a common subject of debate. There are many different opinions depending on what direction the forest owner has with his/her forest. Populations of moose and roe deer have increased significantly in Sweden during the last decades. The purpose of this study is to get a full picture of the herbivore impact on the regeneration areas. The field work was done once a year for seven years (1999?2005).

The purpose of this study was to show how the Hybrid Larch (Larix eurolepis x) are used by large herbivores in terms of grazing and fraying. More specifically I studied how impact on the seedlings was affected by forest stand area, tree height and stem density (stems/ha).The survey was done in Jönköpings county in southern Sweden. About 50 % of all stems that are measured are damaged by grazing and 5,8 % was damaged from fraying. The conclusion of the study is that the biggest influencing factor is the height of the seedlings. The size of the stands and number off seedlings per hectare have almost no impact on the injuries on the seedlings. Fraying are common on trees smaller than 3 meters, and doesn?t occur on trees above that height.

A fauna passage is a way for animals to cross roads separated from the traffic. In Sweden, there are an unknown number of passages with different functions and appearances. These passages would, with the question ?Which fauna passages can be found in Sweden, and how well do they work?? as a base, be compiled in a comparable way. This would be done with a number of questions asked to the different regions of Vägverket.

A fauna passage is a way for animals to cross roads separated from the traffic. In Sweden, there are an unknown number of passages with different functions and appearances. These passages would, with the question ?Which fauna passages can be found in Sweden, and how well do they work?? as a base, be compiled in a comparable way. This would be done with a number of questions asked to the different regions of Vägverket.