As a hibernating species, the brown bear spend most of the winter months in a den as astrategy to avoid unfavorable conditions. The denning period is a vulnerable time for bears,making them unable to flee disturbances without losing valuable amounts of energy. Brownbears' wariness of humans and avoidance of anthropogenic disturbance often steer denningbears away from human infrastructure, and bears thereby avoid possible disturbance and itsassociated energetic costs. This study was carried out to test the hypothesis that bearsdenning closer to infrastructure select more covered den sites to compensate for the closedistance. Dens from 32 individuals were visited and analyzed in terms of sighting distance(a measurement for den horizontal cover) and habitat ruggedness, in relation to distances toinfrastructure.

AbstractThe assignment were assigned by Camatec Industriteknik AB. Camatec is a Karlstadlocated consulting company, they make everything from pilot studies to complete projects in mechanical design and calculation. They even have their own patented product, Camcoil. It is a winder for steel strips and is used for example with hardening of the steel strip. The assignment has been to solve the problems encountered by some customers within this product.

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.

The Falun area has been undergoing mining activity for a very long time and miningslag piled up and was used as foundations for building houses and roads, Ingarvetstarted expanding in the 1970s to an industrial area. The main goal for this report is toreconstruct a soil map of how the landscape was before anthropogenic effects. With thehelp of ArcGIS and geotechnical reports a soil map for parts of Ingarvet, Falun werecreated..

Previous studies of central tire inflation (CTI) in truck transport of roundwood have shown potential benefits to include more even wood flow and reduced road damage. The greatest benefits are found to be during periods of low bearing capacity such as spring thaw. No previous studies have examined geographical variations in the potential benefit of CTI-equipped trucks. The aim of the study was to develop and use a simple method for geographically prioritizing the use of CTI-equipped trucks within a forest company´s sector of activity.The host company for the study was Holmen Skog. The area studied consisted of Holmen Skog?s entire sector of activity extending from the province of Västerbotten to the province of Småland.

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.

AbstractThe assignment were assigned by Camatec Industriteknik AB. Camatec is a Karlstadlocated consulting company, they make everything from pilot studies to complete projects in mechanical design and calculation. They even have their own patented product, Camcoil. It is a winder for steel strips and is used for example with hardening of the steel strip. The assignment has been to solve the problems encountered by some customers within this product.

Construction and maintenance of forest truck roads are a necessary element of industrial forestry. Payment for contracting services in this context can be done according to a number of payment models. This study will focus on the methods and consequences associated with a change of Holmen Skog?s payment model from per hour to per metric ton for ballast hauling. The aim of this study is to improve the economic efficiency of Holmen Skog?s ballast hauling in construction and maintenance of forest truck roads. This is done by formulating and evaluating a proposal for a payment model based on crowns per ton.

Road design with focus to safety has been extensively developed in last decades in Nordic and some other EU countries with the main aim to achieve a decrease in a number of accidents and fatalities on the roads. These countries gained many valuable experiences, but they had to sacrifice great effort, expenses, and time to reach the present art-of-state. The purpose of the Master?s Thesis is to review some design approaches with focus to safety and discuss the general way that they may be applied. The Master?s Thesis studies safety in three levels: (i) general - design standards, national safety policies and road hierarchy; (ii) local authority and road administrator; and (iii) three specific safety countermeasures - junctions, pedestrian crossings and traffic calming.

The low bearing capacity of roads during the spring thaw and periods in the autumn leads every year to increases costs for Holmen Skog. To reduce costs and increase accessibility Holmen Skog decided to install and test a CTI-system. Central tire inflation (CTI) is a system that makes it possible to monitor and vary a vehicle?s tire inflation pressures from the cabin, while the vehicle is in motion. When tire pressures are reduced, the area of the contact surface between the tire and the road increases, thus reducing the ground pressure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the CTI-equipped vehicle and analyze if the CTI technology is economical defensible during the thaw 2005.

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.

This paper deals with U 150, a rune-stone raised by Jarlabanke, a wealthy man who lived in the 11th century. He raised about 7 rune-stones telling us that he made bridges, roads and was the owner of the whole of Täby. U 150 is carved with ornaments that seem to be a lot older than the other ornaments of the Jarlabanke stones that Jarlabanke raised for himself, while he still was alive.  It is argued that the rune-stone U 150 was in fact made by another man called Jarl Banke (not Jarlabanke), who was a Jarl in the 11th century and is mentioned on at least three rune-stones in the same area as the Jarlabanke rune-stones..

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.

This report contains a risk analysis of transportation of dangerous goods in Kalmar. The analysis is based on quantitative data and an evaluation of the risks based on both the probability of occurring accidents as well as the consequences of those. The risks are presented as both individual and societal risks..

Roads and railroads have significant impact on the surrounding landscape and the wildlife living in it. This study aims to provide an overview of the effects caused by railways to reindeer, roe deer and moose in Sweden in order to make more detailed assessments within this topic in the future. The method used is a study of literature on the subject and a synthesis of databases with information about wildlife mortalities, traffic intensity and fences in the study area; northern and central Sweden. The databases were used to compile digital maps using ArcGIS. Infrastructure brings change to the surrounding landscape and its function as habitat for wildlife. Railroads cause barrier effects such as fragmentation, wildlife mortality, loss of habitat and loss of connectivity.