The aim of the project was to investigate if Swedish rodents, brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), house mouse (Mus musculus), wood mouse (Apodemus spp) and water vole (Arvicola terrestris) captured in pig herds and in urban areas, constitute a reservoir for pathogenic Leptospira spp. Under Swedish conditions leptospirosis gives rise to reproductive disorders in pigs and symptoms of flu in humans. It has long been established that rodents are chronic carriers of pathogenic leptospires in their kidneys, and can spread the bacteria with urine. The old nomenclature of serovoars is still in use, but a new system of genetic classification has developed and today the genus Leptospira contains 17 Species. There are several diagnostic test developed for leptospirosis.

During thousands of years, reindeer have adapted to living under harsh conditions with large seasonal variations in climate and forage availability. This adaptation implies that body functions and nourishment needs are strongly bound to the season. In the summer the reindeer has to maximize food intake to build up fat and protein reserves for the winter. More than 200 different plant Species are included in the reindeer diet, but since reindeer have an unique ability to use the nourishment in lichen, different lichen Species make up a large portion of their winter diet in many areas. Fundamental for reindeer husbandry is access to natural grazing during most of the year.

The present BSc thesis is part of a newly established collaboration between the Swedish zoo Skansen and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and constitutes of an inventory of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage (AO). As a refuge for wild animals found orphaned, abandoned or injured throughout Kenya, the AO has grown over the years and reached an unsustainable point where external help is needed for solutions and improvements. The aim of the inventory is to specifically consider the husbandry and enclosures of spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), serval (Felis serval), Sykes? monkey (Cercopithecus albogularis) and vervet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) and with the aid of facts about the Species, estimate how well their biological needs are satisfied. Different educational elements are also reviewed since one of the main purposes of the AO is for education.

In Europe poplar plantations has been planted for more than one hundred years. In the first plantation was made in 1940. The interest for poplars has since then shifted over the years and has for long periods been very low but is now slowly increasing again. The main reasons why poplars are becoming more interesting are because of their great production potential. Nevertheless, the knowledge of how to mange poplars in Sweden are very low and very little research has been done concerning management of the Species. The objective for this study was to; 1) investigate and document experience and results obtained in practical Swedish forestry, 2) to give a fair picture of the perceived advantages and disadvantages that the poplars has for the forestry, 3) document what the foresters that has experience and those who has no experience of poplar plantations thinks about the potential of poplars.

This case study is based on a previous documented method of manufacturing artificial nest containing pre-colored hen eggs. This method is going to be used to find, if the wild boar population, which is growing in number, is a threat to the capercaillie population.  In comparison to the wild boar population, the capercaillie population is diminishing in different parts of Sweden.  In order to find out if they are affect by each other, the case study was carried out during the months of April to May 2009. 100 artificial nests were placed out on various locations on the Södertuna estate just in the outskirts of Gnesta. The unique aspect of this study is that a fenced environment to keep out wild animals is used to conduct this study, which has been previously known to be free from wild boar, but the area outside has sittings of wild boar. So to fully understand how this affects the capercaillie population, 50 of the nests were placed outside the fence area, while the other 50 nests were placed inside the fenced area. The sites were visited on two separate occasions, and were noted of the changes inside and outside the fenced compounds.

The effectiveness of Phlebiopsis gigantea to prevent spore infections from Heterobasidionannosum and Heterobasidion parviporum on hybrid larch stumps were investigated in fivestands in southern Sweden. All sites are former forest land and the age of the trees wasbetween 9 and 13 years.The study was implemented in August 2010, a month where spore dispersal should be great.The five sites were located in previously un?thinned monocultures of hybrid larch. The sporeload in the air was studied with the help of spore traps from three different tree Species;Norway spruce, Scots pine and hybrid larch. A total of 146 spore traps, evenly distributed inall five sites were analyzed.

Many invasive Species propose a big threat against the native fauna in the area that they colonise. Today the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is speeding from Finland over the border in to northern Sweden. A project to stop the spread and eliminate the individuals that already have established was initiated in the autumn of 2008. To investigate areas that might be interesting for raccoon dogs and to confirm sightings, cameras with auto triggering mechanisms are used. To get the raccoon dog in front of the camera some kind of lure is used. In this study three kinds of different lures was tested against each other?s.

Abstract The purpose of this work is to investigate children?s perception of Swedish birds. Through qualitative questions there were twelve children interviewed. I showed the pictures for the children of different animals that we discussed but with focus on birds. The children could partly distinguish which of the pictures that represented birds and who did not.

No previous studies have been conducted on elementary school in Sweden about children`s thoughts about the first animals on earth. The work takes up the children`s ideas of the first animals and the difference between girls and boys knowledge. The purpose of this work was to determine if student`s views are consistent with the science know today. In the interview, five girls and five boys participated. Mankind is asking where it all began, today we know that the first life arose for 4 billion years ago and it was from the water.

The freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera is an endangered Species. To survive, the young mussels demand a fairly coarse bottom material containing an appropriate quantity of organic substrate to survive without suffocating. In order to estimate if a bottom is suitable for juvenile mussels, samples of the sediment are needed. To obtain samples a sampling device called the Mulv collector has been developed within this project. Bottom samples were collected from 18 stations in 4 south Swedish streams, Vramsån, Kling-storpsbäcken, Brönnestadsån and Bräkneån.

The colour choice of spiders and the effects of competition on this phenomenon were examined in the laboratory using the sit-and-wait predator goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia, (Thomisidae)). This Species can  be both white and yellow (could also change colour)  and it was here examined whether individuals preferred to sit on flowers which has the same colouration as their bodies. I found that M.vatia showed preference for flowers that matched their own body colour, but when competition was introduced this preference disappear. It seems, however, that position is a factor that can influences the substrate decisions of M. vatia, where the edge of the flower is preferred..

The effectiveness of Phlebiopsis gigantea to prevent spore infections from Heterobasidionannosum and Heterobasidion parviporum on hybrid larch stumps were investigated in fivestands in southern Sweden. All sites are former forest land and the age of the trees wasbetween 9 and 13 years.The study was implemented in August 2010, a month where spore dispersal should be great.The five sites were located in previously un?thinned monocultures of hybrid larch. The sporeload in the air was studied with the help of spore traps from three different tree Species;Norway spruce, Scots pine and hybrid larch. A total of 146 spore traps, evenly distributed inall five sites were analyzed.

In the spring of 2006 we had our first outbreak of avian influenza of highly pathogenic H5N1 (HPAI) among wild birds in Sweden. This disease have impact on poultry industries world wide. Sporadically the virus infects other Species than birds and we now know it can even cause fatal infection of humans. There are not yet any confirmed cases of transmission of the disease between humans though a suspected case in an Indonesian family is under investigation. If a mutation occurs that changes the pathogenicity and host affinity to humans we are at a risk of a new pandemia, perhaps like the Spanish flu in 1918-1920.

Botanically diverse pastures are commonly used in New Zealand to reduce the ruminant environmental impact by reducing the methane production from the rumen digestion. In order to evaluate the effects diverse pasture Species have on the milk fatty acid profile seventy-two lactating Friesian-Jersey crossbred dairy cows were used in a randomised block design with two replicates of six treatments. Six different pasture mixtures were fed at a daily allowance of approximately 15 kg DM/cow/day. The mixtures were categorised as either a simple or a diverse pasture. The simple mixtures all contained white clover with the addition of either a standard diploid perennial ryegrass (RG), a diploid high sugar ryegrass (HS) or tall fescue (TF).

The freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) is a large freshwater mussel. Because of its sensitivity to human impact, such as eutrophication, acidification and alterations of hydromorphology, the Species is considered as a robust indicator of stream water quality and biodiversity. Moreover, due to the Species complex life cycle, including a larval stage on the gills of salmon and trout, and sensitivity of early life stages, regeneration is often used as an indicator. The freshwater pearl mussel is also used in the expert judgement of status classification of benthic invertebrates according to the European Water Framework Directive. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the freshwater pearl mussel as an indicator for Swedish streams. It was made with two types of association analyses.