SUMMARY Establish a pasture There is many valuable nature and culture landscapes in Sweden that has developed during a long period of time, throw natural processes or human use. Unfortunately lot of these are disappearing. My thought with this work is to explore the possibility to establish new areas with similar qualities. The motive for this is that attractive countryside biotopes are well worth to use as model to enrich the urban landscape. Another thought has concerned the people that establish, build and manage landscapes and parks. They often have varied views, both coming from a difference in background and previous experiences.

Detection of leukocytes in semen from boars is part of the routine control of semen quality. Leukocytes in semen can cause damage to spermatozoa that leads to impaired fertilization. In the artificial insemination (AI) industry there are standard routines for the quality control of the boars and of the neat semen before use. Since 2001, Quality Genetics has not done the leukocyte examination on semen samples from boars which are used for the production of pigs for slaughter. The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of leukocytes in semen from AI-boars. The questions addressed were whether there are boars that have leukocytes in their semen and how frequently it occurs and, moreover, if there are differences between breeds, or even between individuals whose semen was checked before use in AI-dose production compared to those which were not. The study included a total of 135 AI-boars, of which 67 were Hampshire, 35 Yorkshire and 33 Landrace, all belonging to Quality Genetics AI-station in Hållsta.

Powdery mildew is a serious problem in both field and greenhouse cucumber production and can cause serious infection and radically reduced yields. Today, powdery mildew is the main disease in greenhouse produced cucumber. Disease control should preferably be both efficient and environmentally friendly, which is not easy to achieve at all times. Alternatives to chemical control of powdery mildews are biological control, physical control, non-fungicide control and cultivation of resistant or tolerant varieties. Biological control can be described as the suppression of damaging activities inflicted of a harmful organism by one or more other organisms, which are called antagonists or natural enemies. In Sweden, there are currently no registered biological control products available to control cucumber powdery mildew. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of two biological control products in order to evaluate their ability to prevent or reduce powdery mildew infection to an acceptable level in greenhouse produced cucumber. In the experiments, different application regimes were also studied.

Staphylococcus aureus is the most clinically important Staphylococcus species and is associated with high mortality in patients with positive blood cultures. S. aureus bacteria may cause a variety of disease manifestations ranging from minor skin infections to life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and sepsis. This microorganism belonging to the gram positive cocci may also be part of the normal flora. In Sweden, penicillinase-stable penicillins are the primary alternatives to treat S.

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.

Ett ökat brukande av skog enligt skötselprinciper som leder till skiktade beståndsstrukturer, en blandad trädslagssammansättning och kontinuerligt skogbeklädd mark har potential att öka den biologiska mångfalden och värdet för rekreation (Emborg m.fl. 2000, Berg m.fl. 1995, Mattsson & Li 1994, Holgen m.fl. 2000). I ljuset av detta, tillsammans med svårigheterna som finns att nå goda ekonomiska resultat vid skötsel av ädellövskog (Lindén & Ekö 2002), ses det idag som angeläget att uppmärksamma och studera alternativa skogsskötselmetoder (Cedergren 2008) . I östra Blekinge har ett antal skogsägare under längre tid praktiserat en metod att sköta naturligt föryngrad ek i blandbestånd som går ut på att, mer eller mindre tidigt, frihugga ekhuvudstammar, och att dana kvalitet genom stamkvistning/beskärning.

The cat is one of our most common pets. Understanding the reproductive physiology of the queen is important, not only for the knowledge of our domestic cats but also for wild undomesticated feline species, many of which have been reported endangered. Understanding the mechanisms behind the estrous cycle, ovulation and pregnancy is also important for handling the feral cat populations that are a problem in several countries. The purpose of this literature study is to look into the hormonal patterns of the reproductive physiology of the female cat, with focus on ovulation, pregnancy and pseudo-pregnancy, and from this information determine in which fields more research would be needed. The female cat is seasonally polyestrous in Sweden, meaning that she can have several estrous cycles during the breeding season but goes through a long period of reproductive dormancy during the darker months of the year. The queen is considered an induced ovulator, with copulation triggering the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland needed for ovulation.

Forestry supply chains are a significant part of the Swedish economy. These supply chains are highly susceptible to storms damage. In late 2013 Sweden was hit by multiple storms. This leads to the possibility to research how supply chains react to the shocks that storms cause. The aim of this thesis is to research the costs that storms increase, the actions that are taken within the forestry supply chain, as well as possible benefactors from storms. This thesis bases on previous work on supply chain mapping and cost theories.

Horseracing is frequently referred to as the engine behind all horse activity in Sweden and it can be divided in to two main branches: harness racing and thoroughbred racing (HNS, 2008). Jump racing is a part of the thoroughbred racing and the jump racing is characterised by jumps on the racing track. Jump racing has been a part of the Swedish horseracing for over hundred years, but it has in recent years suffered from low economic profitability and been threatened by discontinuance (ATG & SG, 2008). Svensk Galopp, who is governing the horseracing in Sweden, has decided to increase the importance of jump racing. A workgroup was created for this purpose, and as a result of their work a strategy for the jump racing is supposed to be delivered in April 2009 (pers.

The Swedish ostrich production started about thirteen years ago and still there are no Swedish recommendations regarding ostriches? space requirements. The European Council give recommendations and the Swedish Board of Agriculture (SJV) has a proposal, but so far the producers follow Danish regulations regarding space requirements. The Swedish Animal Welfare Agency are about to set standards for the ostriches? space requirements, and therefore the Swedish ostrich producers, together with The Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF) ask for a scientific background to these decisions. This thesis is a preliminary study at the prospect of a future experiment on which factors important for ostriches? space requirements and welfare will be examined more thouroughly.

Individual trees can act as carriers of meaning. When a person attributes deep meanings to a specific tree, a relationship between the person and the tree is created. To avoid conflicts between users and planners, increased awareness is required of how important individual trees may be to a person. The objective of this study was to elucidate persons? relationships with individual urban trees.

The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is the first species ever domesticated. They can develop a close bond towards other dogs, almost like a relationship among siblings, which can be a high valuable resource for good relations and cooperation?s. Dominance in dogs is sometimes used to explain undesired behaviors and explained as a personality trait. Dominance though, is not a trait in a dog or a source for undesired behaviors, but can rather be explained as a relationship between individuals, were one of them receives more submissive signals from the other.

Staphylococcus aureus is the most clinically important Staphylococcus species and is associated with high mortality in patients with positive blood cultures. S. aureus bacteria may cause a variety of disease manifestations ranging from minor skin infections to life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and sepsis. This microorganism belonging to the gram positive cocci may also be part of the normal flora. In Sweden, penicillinase-stable penicillins are the primary alternatives to treat S.

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is one of the leading causes of acute encephalitis in humans. The virus is spread by mosquitoes, mainly belonging to the Culex species. The main reservoirs are considered to be birds and pigs, with pigs constituting the most important reservoir in regard to human infection. During the last few decades the production of pork has increased significantly in Vietnam. With 90% of pigs being kept in households owning 10 pigs or less, pigs are widely spread across most parts of the country.

The pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani causes major economic losses for potato producers in Sweden. The producers, as well as advisors, have reported possible increases in severity of R. solani when free-living plant parasitic nematodes are present and active. There are several examples in the literature of interactions between pathogens where one, or both species, support or increase the damage made by the other organism. These complexes are important to investigate and to be able to forecast, since even low incidences of fungi or nematodes may result in an interaction of significance.