This thesis was done after a request from the county?s administrative board of Västmanland to provide the board with a better understanding of how green areas have changed within Västerås municipality over time.The purpose and goal of this study was thus to measure and analyze how much of the green areas within Västerås municipality that have disappeared during the past one hundred years as well as to provide a review of previous studies regarding the importance of green areas for humans as well as the biological diversity.In order to answer these questions I have in this study used a combination of a literature study, cartographic analysis as well as a time series analysis. The computer software used to do the measurements of the green areas was ArcGIS which is a geographical information system.In the cartographic and times series anlaysis measurements and analysis was made of the district map of 1911, the economic map of 1950 and the property map of 2011. The measurements show that the municipality has grown with 46,3 km2 over the last one hundred years. New neighborhoods? have emerged and the municipality has expanded.

Tourism in the Arctic and Antarctic is increasing rapidly. In both Polar Regions, the cruise tourism is predominant. Several of the tour operators arrange trips under the banner of ecotourism, meaning that the trips should be ecologically sustainable. To ensure ecotourism standards there are different types of certifications; for cruise travels in the Arctic there is AECO (the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators) certification, and for travels to the Antarctic IAATO (the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators). Promoters of ecotourism argue that these trips are important because they create support for conservation work among tourists making them ?polar ambassadors?.

In fisheries, there is a long tradition to use catch data when evaluating changes in the stock and effects from harvesting. It is a common practice to use Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) as an index of population size, and several studies have investigated the properties of CPUE in relation to population abundance, spatial distribution and efficiency of gear. In research, catch rate on trap-transects is used as an index of abundance for Wildlife species but CPUE is rarely applied as a tool in harvest management.In 1993, more than 60 000 km2 of the state managed mountain range in Sweden was opened to the public for small game hunting, under the responsibility of the county administrative boards in Jämtland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten. The total area is now divided into 332 hunting units (median=73 km2) and an internet based system is used to administer licences and reporting bag statistic. Each hunter has to register the results within two weeks after the hunt.

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of environmental contaminants that have gained increasing attention due to their potential to bioaccumulate, environmental persistence and potential toxicity. PFASs have been found in surface water, sediment, air, soil, sludge and ice caps globally, as well as in Wildlife and humans. Furthermore, PFASs have also been detected in drinking water, leading to raised concerns for human health, since drinking water is one of the most significant sources of PFASs for the general population. Conventional water treatment techniques have shown to be ineffective removing PFASs, highlighting the importance for further research to develop efficient removal techniques. The aim of this study was to investigate the removal efficiency of PFASs in water using two treatment techniques; granular activated carbon (GAC), type Filtrasorb 400®, and anion exchange (AE), type Purolite A-600. Additionally, the effect of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on removal efficiency was studied.

In this essay a model of a potential illegal hunter?s decision-making is created and presented in order to provide an overview of important parts of the complexities associated with the current Swedish predator policy. A comparison is made between a livestock owner?s economic incentives, and the expected costs faced by the potentially caught lawbreaker. In accordance with economic theory the benefits and costs of illegal hunting are compared and thus the optimal choice is determined where marginal costs and benefits are equal.

BIOGAS POTENTIAL IN GRASSES FROM WETLANDSMarvin MartinsThe purpose of this study has been to survey wetlands that are suitable for mowing and to analyze the biogas potential in the harvested grasses. A preformed investigation showed that there are suitable wetlands, which can be harvestable, namely those mowed formerly in traditional haymaking. The practice of traditional haymaking is dying out in Sweden today but there are several good reasons why it should to be reconsidered. Nature- and cultural values are obvious, also the unutilized energy in the grass.The suitable types of wetland that were specifically studied were the productive wetlands; meadow marshes and wet meadows. These wetlands are represented in the Swedish meadow- and pasture inventory database; (TUVA) and the Swedish national wetland inventory (VMI).

Uppsatsen handlar om konflikten mellan människor och elefanter vilket är ett problem på alla de ställen i världen där människor och elefanter lever sida vid sida. Uppsatsen tar sin utgångspunkt från skogsreservatet Thuma Forest Reserv i Malawi där konflikten är ett faktum. Ett fältarbete utfördes under en tre veckors period i reservatet och dess närområde i syfte att studera förvaltarna av reservatet det vill säga Wildlife Action Group (WAG) och deras arbete med konflikthanteringen. Metoderna som användes i fältarbetet var deltagande observation och intervjuer. Uppsatsen är även baserad på litteratur studier vilket innebär att ämnet är beskrivet på en mer generell nivå.

Schimpanser (Pan troglodytes) är människoapor under ordningen primater. De lever i grupper om 15-60 individer och bor i stora revir. De finns i vilt tillstånd främst i centrala och östra Afrika. Schimpanser har komplexa sociala strukturer, de förstår vad andra individer har för relation till varandra och kan utifrån detta välja att bilda koalitioner med andra för att anfalla konkurrerande hannar och endera direkt eller indirekt öka sin rang. Återintroduktion till det vilda är komplex, det finns olika skäl bakom varför man inför återplaceringsprogram. Det kan vara ur etiska grunder, avsaknad av tillräckligt genetiskt material, för att hjälpa utrotningshotade djurarter eller för att på nytt introducera en art till ett habitat där de tidigare funnits men nu utrotats på.

Biodiversity is under threat in Sweden and many species are on the brink of extinction. This is mainly due to the large-scale drainage projects during the 19th and 20th century and the increasingly intensive land use in agriculture and forestry. The intensive land use with sharply defined boundaries between the production units has in many cases led to either overgrazing or overgrowing. As a result many species have been pushed back to "leftover" habitats like shooting ranges, power line corridors, roadsides, dumps, embankments and other similar areas. Therefore the question has been raised, wether or not it is needed to re-introduce large herbivores into the wild in order to maintain the biodiversity that is related to the extensive land use.This study has been conducted as a literature review and will focus on the European bison?s (Bison bonasus) impact on other species and biodiversity; conditions for reintroducing large herbivores in Sweden are also discussed.Free roaming populations of large herbivores have a positive impact on plants, insects and many other groups of organisms.

The objective of this thesis was to investigate what influence nature conservation measures taken at regeneration felling. Factors analysed were the forest owners´ situation and their characters, and information activities from wood-suppliers and the Regional Forest Board (RFB). The inventory was performed with a posted questionnaire followed up by telephone to forest owners and a posted questionnaire to wood-buyers. The forest owners were grouped in three strata, depending on the quality results (D- polytax inventory) of the taken forest conservation measures, and for this investigation forest owners were sampled from the population in the tree groups. In total 73 % (41/56) of the sampled forest owners answered the questionnaire Group A (17 answers): Good judgement Group B (19 answers): Bad judgement Group C (5 answers): This group was formed from the forest owners that were informed, by RFB, about nature conservation measures and culture history consideration before the regeneration cutting.