The price trend on rapeseed the latest years has led to an increasing interest to grow the crop among many farmers in Sweden. The price trend has resulted in more than a doubling of the oilseed area since the early 2000s. For many farmers it is an advantage to increase cultivation of rapeseed because of the high proportion of cereals in the crop rotation on many farms, but it is not just benefits. The risk of the fields being infected by clubroot increases within frequent rapeseed cultivation and it often leads to subtantial economic losses. Clubroot is caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae that is a soilborne pathogen in genus Protozoa and its resting spores can be found in the soil for up to 18 years.

Beef cattle wintering outdoors should be provided a shelter, e.g. a type of barn or corresponding. This type of production requires appropriate soil types and secured animal welfare. For example, a clean and dry resting place needs to be provided to the animals. To receive an exemption for buildings the farmer has to have something equivalent that provides an adequate shelter.

Decomposition of organic matter is a critical process in the ecosystem, which involves many essential biotic and physical parts. Decomposition is therefore an important process both above and below ground. The rate of decomposition is dependent of many environmental factors for example: pH, moisture and supply of oxygen. The decomposition can therefore be affected by large scaled environmental influences, such as acidification and climatic changes. The root litter in the forest is in different ways affected by acidification, liming and manuering.

This report was written by Sofia Ericson and describes the degree thesis with the title: ?Connections between the growing site of bio fuel, the chemical composition of bio fuel ash and the deposit growth in a bio fuel fired boiler.? The purpose of this degree thesis was to avoid melted deposit growth in the bio fuel fired boiler at ENA Kraft in Enköping. Potassium and sodium are known to lower the melting point of bio fuel ashes and are therefore not wanted in the trees in higher amounts than necessary for the growth. Silicon is also known to be important for the deposit growth but it is not possible to say in general if higher or lower contents of silicon is better. The relation between silicon and other chemical substances is more important than the total amount of silicon.

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.

In this thesis, two studies with different drills were included. In one of the studies two drills were compared: Väderstad Rapid and Väderstad Spirit. In the other study various drills for direct drilling were compared. The study with Rapid and Spirit was placed in two locations with different autumn tillage; one on ploughed land in Uppsala and one on cultivated land in Västerås, both with relatively high clay content. Rapid drills have a single disc coulter, while the Spirit drills have a double disc coulter. Various aspects were compared such as aggregate distribution, seed placement, emergence, crop yield and economic outcome.

The degree project at hand investigates how large areas of older forest (80 plus years) suitable for clear cutting there is on the Swedish island of Gotland. Large areas of older forest on Gotland are situated on land with shallow soil depths which are economically uninteresting and often unsuitable for clear cutting forestry. Other forests hold big nature conservation values and should not, or cannot, be used for forestry purposes. The survey is made as a GIS analysis based on the old but carefully made ?Brief forest inventory? (ÖSI) made in the 1980s and early 1990s. A sample from the inventory is combined with studies of orthophotos, satellite photos and other GIS layers that display estimated soil depth and nature conservation values. Partly contrary to common belief, the survey shows that there are still large areas of older forest suitable for clear cutting forestry on the island.

Pollen analysis of a peat core was used to reconstruct the last 2500 years of vegetation history, with focus on the impact of anthropogenic disturbance, in Hamra National Park, central Sweden. In addition, analysis of pollen in soil samples was performed in an attempt to locate ancient cultivation plots in the National Park. The analysis of the peat core shows a development of the vegetation that can be divided into four stages of different degrees of human impact: A - virgin forest (c. 500 B.C.-A.D. 1300), B - grazed forest (c. A.D.

Forestry is increasing on an industrial scale where collection of logging residues takes a greater part. This has resulted in more machinery and heavy machinery driving in the clear felled area, this increases the risk of soil damage that will occur in the form of soil compacting and rutting in the clearings. This affecting on the nature in a negative way and especially in rivers and lakes that are affected by siltation and acidification leading to increased levels of heavy metals and methyl mercury. The purpose of this study was to investigate why there is damage to the ground when working with the slash in forest management from the forest officer point of view. A self-designed questionnaire was used and 45 questionnaires were sent out to various companies all over Sweden.

BACKGROUND: The isolation facility is an important ward in veterinary hospitals. This is where infectious patients are treated in order to reduce the risk for cross-contamination between the infectious patients and other patients and humans in the hospital. But it can only function in a safe manner as long as adequate precautions for infection control are adhered to. This has shown to be a problem in many isolation facilities in veterinary hospitals in Sweden. AIM: The aim of this paper was to examine which factors that can affect the quality of the infection control in the isolation facility. The aim is also to stress the importance of adequate infection control practices. METHOD: Two interviews were conducted with staff from two veterinary hospitals.

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.

The purpose of this literature review was to describe the paths of exposure and accumulation of organic pollutants into the tissues of farm animals. Organic pollutants can be spread in the environment by air and rainwater. Farm animals can be exposed to these pollutants for example by eating soil or contaminated plants. Many of the pollutants can then accumulate in the fat tissues of the body because of their lipophilic character. Brominated flame retardants and perfluorolated compounds are both pollutants of current interest.

When building a house or similar the stress on the ground increases and deformations can arise. The deformations create a foundation that the building is not constructed for and damages on the building arise. The increased stress on the ground can be derived back to the building, but it is possible that the increased stress may well derive from different sources such as other buildings or trees.       The building is an older property, built in the late 19th century alternatively early 20th century, and is today used for rental housing and has suffered severe damages due to subsidence. The goal of the thesis is to find possible causes for these subsidences. The thesis was executed as a combination between literature- and casestudie. After careful studies it has been found that a probable cause for these subsidences is trees. Through field- and lab studies it has been found that the trees has effected the ground through there accumulation of water.

Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax, a serious and globally distributed zoonosis affecting a wide range of wild and domestic animals, invariably also humans. However, although known to humans since biblical times, much remains to be elucidated concerning the ecology and transmission of this bacterium. Of particular interest is the Bacillus anthracis spore, the uptake of which is the predominant way to contract anthrax and which is legendary for its resilience in the environment and thus crucial for persistence and spread of the disease. Hence, the aim of this study is to review the natural transmission of Bacillus anthracis and investigate potential means by which soil persisting Bacillus anthracis spores reach concentrations sufficient to infect susceptible hosts. When reviewing the literature, three different theories can be distinguished. Firstly, ?the incubator area? hypothesis suggests that favourable soil factors, possibly in association with amoebas, may constitute an environment supporting repeated spore-bacterium-spore cycling, thus increasing the local amount of spores.

Uppsats för avläggande av högskoleexamen i Kulturvård, Trädgårdens hantverk och design 7,5 hp, 2014.