Large areas have been ditched in Sweden during the past 100 years to improve the forest production. Ditching and also maintenance of old Ditches are operations having mainly negative effects on water quality, flora and fauna and changing characteristics of soil. The purpose of this study was to suggest a method for inventory of the need for ditching maintenance in old forest Ditches that takes biodiversity, water protection and forest production into consideration. Inventory methods from five Swedish and Finnish forest companies, agencies and organisations were compared. Their employees were interviewed about their handling with Ditches, forest production and nature conservation.

During the 20th century a significant proportion (about 15 %) of the peat-covered wetlands in Sweden were drained to improve forest productivity. Area wise, most of the forest drainage was done in northern Sweden, but relatively speaking a larger part of the wetlands have been drained in the southern parts of the country. Most often, the forest drainage resulted in increased forest growth, but failures were not unusual, and harmful effects, e.g. on species richness, have been a common cause for draining. Ditch cleaning is necessary for maintaining the Ditches in good condition.

Slopes in fine till soils are exposed to surface erosion due to rainfall, snowmelt and upland water sources. Large areas of road slopes are therefore covered for surface erosion protection. Preventive methods like Ditches and trenches are also being used. Silt tills are particularly troublesome since the water can bring the soil into suspension and cause mudslides. Different methods for erosion protection have been studied in this work, with the emphasis placed on rockfill covering. The need for and the dimensioning of this type of covering has been examined in literature and field studies.

Evaluations of open Ditch status and function, with an assessment of suitability of a conversion to a two stage ditch as a low maintenance alternative. To illustrate Swedish drainage problems this work focused on two agricultural drainage associations assessed in detail with a new method called MADRAS (Minnesota Agricultural Ditch Reach Assessment for Stability). With the assessment of the MADRAS method estimates were made to conclude the Ditches operating problems. This was made through measurements of sediment depths, mass bank failures etc. in order to quantify ditch problems and propose practical actions for improved ditch stability and water quality. The MADRAS surveys were conducted in two main Ditches that drains 2900 hectares of land on the northern shores of Mälaren. In the study measurements of the ditch cross-sections were also conducted to compare actual profiles with the original map profiles. The evaluation showed that parts of the studied ditch sections were operatively poor; main reason was mass bank failure, undercut channel banks, sediment aggregations and narrowed Ditches. The profile survey shows that a majority of the profiles 80 % has sediment accumulations there remains only 64 % of the original profile from the map.

Agricultural drainage Ditches are links between fields, lakes and oceans, having the potential to transport e.g. sediment and nutrients. When in a good condition, drainage Ditches can act as sinks for e.g. phosphorus and sediments and prevent eutrophication downstream. The aim of this study was to determine the condition of one agricultural drainage ditch and to come up with suggestions for appropriate measures. The aim was also to determine which of the ditch?s properties that were possible to evaluate visually, which processes they represented as well as which properties required complementary physical analysis. This in order to contribute to the work of developing a method for determining the status/condition of agricultural drainage Ditches.

This study was performed in an afforestation experiment established 1982 on an abandoned peat harvesting area, Flakmossen, in the province of Värmland, SW Sweden. The experimen-tal design include planting with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), in combination with various drainage intensities (20, 30, and 40 m between Ditches), and fertilizer doses 0, 100, and 200 g PK per seedling applied at the date of planting. The aim of this study was to achieve more knowledge about the conditions on afforestation of peat harvesting areas, especially regarding drainage intensity and fertilization requirements, by means of determining the stand growth and yield in the Flakmossen trial. The forest growth did not differ significantly between the drainage intensities tested when the same amount of phosphor and potassium fertilizer was added. Thus, shorter distances between Ditches than 40 m can not be recommended. When no fertilization was carried out seedling survival was very low, and the growth of sur-vived seedlings was poor. The largest diameter and height growth were observed in the areas where the highest dose of phosphorus and potassium (200g/seedling) was given.

The purpose of the thesis was to map the hydraulic load on the Knivsta river from stormwater runoff, and build a platform for further studies of pollution loads on the rivers ecosystems. New residential areas are planned to be built in Knivsta municipality and it will have an impact on stormwater flows to Knivsta river. To examine the impact this will have, simulations were made in the area as it stands today and after expansion work. The work includes calculation of flows from the populated areas but also from the catchment area around it consisting of woodlands and fields. Because of expected climatic changes which may affect rainfall, the simulations have been performed with different return periods for rainfall data.

The purpose of this study was to examine the goals, possibilities and rationales that could be found in the discussions concerning the digging of Ditches by governmental subsidiaries in order to drain the peat bogs of late nineteenth century Sweden. A further aim was to look at the effect on the landscape on a local level i.e. Släthults moss in Bäckaby parish, Småland in the south eastern part of Sweden. In order to be able to explain the connections between politics and landscape changes in a local population and its deciding bodies, influenced by ideas, science and production, a quadruple helix model developed from a triple helix model by Björn-Ola Linér was used. As a model of environmental history, three step thought was used, borrowed from Donald Worster.

Ökad efterfrågan på virke har lett till ett ökat intresse för och användande av olika produktionshöjande åtgärder. En sådan åtgärd är dikesrensning som innebär att befintliga diken eller dikessystem rensas för att de skall bibehålla eller återfå sin ursprungligt avvattnande och produktionshöjande funktion. Sveaskog avser att öka omfattningen av dikesrensning. Därför behövs en kartläggning av behovet på deras marker. På samma gång behöver produktionseffekterna och livslängden på dikena utrönas. Studien genomfördes via en studie av befintlig litteratur om skogsproduktionseffekter efter dikesrensning och dikning samt förfall och livslängd hos diken.

The activities of beavers in forested landscapes affect both ecological and economical values. The creation of the dynamic wetland mosaic associated to beaver activities can even improve the quality of water and have been documented as an important landscape engineer affecting the environment for many species. The local office of Sveaskog in Skinnskatteberg is responsible for the management of large areas of the forests in the County of Västmanland. In this area one of several company?s goals are to create ten new wetlands in their own forests as a part of cooperation with the Swedish bird society and Swedish wetland association.

Den här rapporten har utrett möjligheten att automatiskt identifiera diken frånflygburet insamlat LiDAR-data. Den metod för identifiering som har valts harförst skapat en höjdbild från LiDAR-data. Därefter har den tagit fram kandidatertill diken genom att vektorisera resultatet från en linjedetektering. Egenskaper-na för dikeskandidaterna har sedan beräknats genom en analys av höjdprofilerför varje enskild kandidat, där höjdprofilerna skapats utifrån ursprungliga data.Genom att filtrera kandidaterna efter deras egenskaper kan dikeskartor med an-vändarspecificerade mått på diken presenteras i ett vektorformat som underlättarvidare användning. Rapporten beskriver hur algoritmen har implementerats ochpresenterar också exempel på resultat.

There are records of lowering of the water level in a lot of the Swedish lakes from the middleof the 1700th century. The aim was gaining more areable land to meet the needs of more foodto support the expanding population. In areas with top soil which contents of clay or loam asin the southwest of Scania in southern Sweden this was proven to be a successful wayexpanding the total outcome of the harvest.The studied area in the northeast of Scania, though, consists of morain with a lot of mires -much less nutritious conditions. When the water level is lowered the atmosphere gets accessto the peat. The dissolving of the organic matter that has been suppressed by the lack ofoxygene below water level continues.

This essay is about the hamlets´ older boundaries, i.e. boundary lines (?rågångar?) and boundary markers in the form of rocks, and an own survey of two hamlet boundaries in southeast Sweden. Many of the boundary rocks were subjected to unintentional damage or destruction that arose during forestry activities, the excavation of Ditches, or road construction. Boundaries between hamlets sparsely populated areas were not clearly defined from the beginning, but were established initially in the form of boundary zones, that often consisted of wetlands, watercourses, or mountain heights.

Vomb meadows is an area well knows for its rich bird life. During the 19:thcentury until mid 20:th century, the meadows were flooded annually in order toincrease the hay yield. The river Klingavälsån situated along the west side of themeadows, used to be a shallow river, meandering across the landscape. In the1940?s the river was straightened and made deeper.

The loss of such great wetlands, which has arose in Sweden the last decades, has created a situation that threats both the function and the biological diversity within the wetlands. Many ecological niches can be found in the wetlands and it is one of the habitats where most different species exist. In the 17th Century people started to ditch damp environments, such as bogs, to create a productive cultivated ground. Further Ditches were made when the forestry gave large economical profits. The wetlands were impoverished from both groundwater and nourishment, and this led to a great loss of species.In a corporation with WWF and Skogsstyrelsen in Arvika, the University of Karlstad has participated in the Laskerudproject, a hydrological restoration-project in a forest landscape.