In Scandinavia, capercaillie are often associated with pine trees (Pinus sylvestris) in winter, with pine needles as the main diet. Few dietary studies have been conducted in Sweden and winter diet is subject to little debate. The interesting thing is that this "pine specialist? is also found in spruce (Picea abies) forest habitats where pine is scarce or unavailable. In many studies outside Sweden (primarily Central Europe) spruce is regularly observed in the winter diet, but I have found no reports on the selection of the diet in spruce forest areas in Sweden.

Nature-like plantations are areas that, by today?s maintenance procedure usually gains low prioritiy and are forgotten. Most nature-like plantations are currently disadvantaged and have in many cases grown up and formed dense,impenetrable and brushwoody green volumes. These green volumes is rarely used, but usually only fills out gap surfaces. With proper care nature-like plantations can become health promoting environments in the increasinglyhardened urban environments.How vegetation systems work and how trees and shrubs interact is dependent on many factors.

The employer is obligated to call for negotiation on his own initiative, before he makes decisions in questions, which constitute important changes of the employer?s business or of the worker?s working conditions and terms of employment. The obligation to negotiate is reserved to the organisations, which the employer has collective agreements with. But what does the concept of important changes mean? What areas are included in the concept of important changes, according to legal framework and case law? How extensive is in fact the employer?s obligation to negotiate? The purpose of this report has been to seek answers to the above-mentioned questions, through partly describing how the employer?s obligation to negotiate has developed, and partly describing how the codes of negotiations in the Employment (Co-Determination in the Workplace) Act of 1976 are raised and applied.

One of the distinguishing features of successful societies is the ability to adapt to change, bothsocial but also natural changes like climate change. Climate change is a complex, dynamic,non-linear process with a great deal of uncertainty concerning the time perspective, risks andconsequences. A combination of factors like climate change, geographical vulnerability, adensely populated and highly built up coast line along with factors like deficient handling ofsurface runoff and a large usage of ground water leads to an increasingly vulnerable society. Italso puts a greater pressure on the society to have preventive measures in place.The number of actors working with preparing society to the expected impacts of climatechange and variability is increasing. However more than half of Sweden?s municipalities donot consider changing climatic conditions when planning, and many times even allow theconstruction of new living areas in known climatically vulnerable areas.

This thesis deals with local identity and the workplace. We have taken part of stories dealing with local identity and the workplace, by using a qualitative method. We interviewed eleven men working at the same company. The group contained of men from urban areas as well as rural areas. The data from our interviews have been applied to theories of local identity and social theories by sociologists such as Durkheim, Simmel and Tönnies.

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.

Many jobs in rural areas have historically been linked to the agricultural sector. The restructuring that has been implemented in agriculture has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of jobs in rural areas. A consequence of this is that many people have moved to cities to earn a living. To maintain a living countryside in Sweden, it is therefore essential to create alternative livehoods in rural areas. An industry that can have a major impact in the future is rural tourism.

Svartedalens nature reserve a social richness worth develop. The nature reserve of Svartedalen is an area of high biological and social values. The reserve is located close to several densely populated areas. The reserve has been classified as a national area of interest for nature conservation and outdoor life, and as a Natura 2000 area according to both the bird- and habitat directions. The reserve is the largest landarea in Västra Götaland, 3 410 hectares, where a resolution has been made about all these forms of protection. The foundation Skogssällskapet owns 1 956 hectares of the reserve, at 1 384 hectares of the property they pursue FSC-certified silver culture, according to current management plan.

The discrepancy in the rights for healthcare between undocumented migrants and the citizen in Sweden is a prerequisite for the existence of Läkarkliniken. Because of the chosen patient group the clinic stands outside the regulations from the National Board of Health and Welfare. The aim of this study was, from an institutional perspective, to investigate how such a unique player is designed and where the influences to the design origin from. The task was conducted thorough a qualitative case study with base in depth interviews. High levels of isomorphism were observed between Läkarkliniken and the general healthcare, however differences were seen as well.

Outdoor recreation habits in metropolis and rural areasThis study aims to examine the perception of nature and outdoor recreation habits from an urban-rural prospective. The urbanization process continues in Sweden and the populations of the cities are growing continuously. Trends to build more compact and ?climate smart? reigns and with this a risk that green areas and areas where outdoor recreation can be practiced are situated further and further away from the urban population. Analyzing the responses from a survey made by the research program Friluftsliv i förändring 2007 we have examined if and which differences exists between urban and rural areas regarding their perception of nature, outdoor recreation habits and factors influencing the practice of outdoor recreation.

Shopping for groceries often means that, as consumers, we travel to the grocery store ourselves, by ear, bike or on foot. At the store we pick out the groceries that we want, go the register and pay for them. During the last couple of years consumers in Sweden have been given the opportunity to let someone else select and transport the groceries to their home instead, so called home shopping. As this report is being written, the possibility to buy groceries this way is somewhat limited, but many forecasters believe that in the near future it will increase immensely. Because of the large volumes of groceries that are being transported, there is great transport work being done in the supply chain.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and fluxes in forest ecosystems are influenced by natural and human disturbances. In the tropical regions the highest impacts on disturbance in forest C cycles are related to human activities such as conversion of natural lands to cropland and pasture areas and to forest plantations. The disturbances in the forest C cycles will release CO2 emissions to the atmosphere triggering global warming. In this study the focus was set in subtropical soils in Brazil, south extreme region of Bahia. The aim of the study was to investigate whether reforestation of Eucalyptus plantations under former pasture areas will help mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration.

The forest industry is one of the most important industry branches in Sweden. Since the demand of high precision wood deliveries has increased, the demand on a well constructed forest road net also has increased. A good road net gives the wood-supplier competition advantages and also increases its service level towards its customers, lumber-mills and pulp-mills. In some parts of Norrbotten, the road net is still insufficient and not yet built out enough, and that is why it is important to know how to act and where to improve the road net in these areas. The purpose of this thesis was to create a work-model for long term road planning in areas with no road net or a not yet complete road net. The model has been created in an ArcGis environment, where a long chain of tools has been tied together with the program ?Model builder?.

Companies worldwide strive to reduce costs and capital tied up in stock. At the same time, the need for short delivery times requires efficient logistic flows. In order to meet customer demands an efficient warehouse activity is required.The purpose of this study is to develop a model for designing a warehouse system regarding to working environment and safety. The model is primarily designed and based on literature reviews of scientific articles and books, own knowledge and the authors previous work experience in the industry.The thesis has been done at Sandvik AB, the department Precision strip in Sandviken. Sandvik is a high-technology engineering group with advanced products and a world-leading positions within selected areas.

After the mandatory rules for clearing was removed in 1994, the clearing area has increased in Sweden. After the storms Gudrun and Per, the areas became planted with new plants, mainly spruce, but also other tree species. Storm areas are now being invaded by naturally rejuvenated birch in the tilling tracks. Since the birch often is initially growing faster than the spruce it is inhibiting the growth and is also damaging the spruce. The purpose of this thesis is to study the new brush saw with chain and compare it with the conventional clearing saw, mainly in terms of performance and ergonomics. The results show that the new brush saw with chain is very good in almost all clearing operations compared to the conventional clearing saw.