<p>This thesis aims to show how biogeophysical and social processes are interlinked in landscape change, and to propose approaches for interdisciplinary environmental assessments (such as EIAs), concentrating on developing countries’ situations, and representation of findings from such studies. </p><p>Landscape in its holistic sense is a very good concept and basis for intellectual and practical use in environmental dialogues. However, landscapes are valued and assessed differently, depending on cultural background along with individual characteristics. </p><p>Methods of conducting interdisciplinary environmental assessments need to vary, but it is important to follow a structure to avoid too broad and general studies that only assemble a few factors and present them without an integrated synthesis. This thesis has suggested one research sequence and structure that has proven to be practical and possible to execute in areas where data is scarce and where local involvement is a major component. It extends the observation period in time and space where remote sensing analyses are integrated with interviews, archive material, land-cover assessments and soil analyses.</p><p>Case studies from Tanzania have been used to investigate how perceptions of land and resources manifest themselves at local scales and how this information can contribute to sustainable environmental planning. Preferences and perceptions of land as being ‘important’ and ‘good’ do not always correlate with favourable biogeophysical conditions, indicating that both social services, such as health care, access to markets, education and employment, as well as “non-rational” factors are essential to consider in environmental planning and management.</p><p>This study has partly been part of a larger research project investigating the links between human livelihood and biodiversity in <i>miombo</i> woodlands. It has been shown how <i>miombo</i> woodland is important to local populations as it provides material goods as well as many intangible services. However, it is also associated with problems and dangers, which are important to consider and understand in planning for the environment and sustainable development.</p>

This research is concerned with theoretical and methodological aspects of geographic information transformation between different user contexts. In this dissertation I present theories and methodological approaches that enable a context sensititve use and reuse of geographic data in geographic information systems. A primary motive for the reported research is that the patrons interested in answering environmental questions have increased in number and been diversified during the last 10-15 years. The interest from international, national and regional authorities together with multinational and national corporations embrace a range of spatial and temporal scales from global to local, and from many-year/-decade perspectives to real time applications. These differences in spatial and temporal detail will be expressed as rather different questions towards existing data. It is expected that geographic information systems will be able to integrate a large number of diverse data to answer current and future geographic questions and support spatial decision processes. However, there are still important deficiencies in contemporary theories and methods for geographic information integration Literature studies and preliminary experiments suggested that any transformation between different users’ contexts would change either the thematic, spatial or temporal detail, and the result would include some amount of semantic uncertainty. Consequently, the reported experiments are separated into studies of change in either spatial or thematic detail. The scope concerned with thematic detatil searched for approaches to represent indiscernibility between categories, and the scope concerned with spatial detail studied semantic effects caused by changing spatial granularity. The findings make several contributions to the current knowledge about transforming geographic information between users’ contexts. When changing the categorical resolution of a geographic dataset, it is possible to represent cases of indiscernibility using novel methods of rough classification described in the thesis. The use of rough classification methods together with manual landscape interpretations made it possible to evaluate semantic uncertainty in geographic data. Such evaluations of spatially aggregated geographic data sets show both predictable and non-predictable effects. and these effects may vary for different environmental variables. Development of methods that integrate crisp, fuzzy and rough data enables spatial decision support systems to consider various aspects of semantic uncertainty. By explicitly representing crisp, fuzzy and rough relations between datasets, a deeper semantic meaning is given to geographic databasses. The explicit representation of semantic relations is called a Geographic Concept Topology and is held as a viable tool for context transformation and full integration of geographic datasets.

This thesis aims to show how biogeophysical and social processes are interlinked in landscape change, and to propose approaches for interdisciplinary environmental assessments (such as EIAs), concentrating on developing countries’ situations, and representation of findings from such studies. Landscape in its holistic sense is a very good concept and basis for intellectual and practical use in environmental dialogues. However, landscapes are valued and assessed differently, depending on cultural background along with individual characteristics. Methods of conducting interdisciplinary environmental assessments need to vary, but it is important to follow a structure to avoid too broad and general studies that only assemble a few factors and present them without an integrated synthesis. This thesis has suggested one research sequence and structure that has proven to be practical and possible to execute in areas where data is scarce and where local involvement is a major component. It extends the observation period in time and space where remote sensing analyses are integrated with interviews, archive material, land-cover assessments and soil analyses. Case studies from Tanzania have been used to investigate how perceptions of land and resources manifest themselves at local scales and how this information can contribute to sustainable environmental planning. Preferences and perceptions of land as being ‘important’ and ‘good’ do not always correlate with favourable biogeophysical conditions, indicating that both social services, such as health care, access to markets, education and employment, as well as “non-rational” factors are essential to consider in environmental planning and management. This study has partly been part of a larger research project investigating the links between human livelihood and biodiversity in miombo woodlands. It has been shown how miombo woodland is important to local populations as it provides material goods as well as many intangible services. However, it is also associated with problems and dangers, which are important to consider and understand in planning for the environment and sustainable development.

Natural gas, primarily methane (CH4), is produced in substantial amounts in ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal systems. These systems could also generate oil (heavier hydrocarbons) and the first building blocks of life (prebiotic molecules). In the presence of iron bearing minerals, serpentinisation reactions generate H2. Subsequently, CH4 could be synthesised by Fischer-Tropsch Type (FTT) reaction (4H2 + CO2 → CH4 + 2H2O) which is an abiotic process. This has lead to the idea of abiotic formation of larger organic molecules. Both thermodynamics and laboratory work support this idea, yet field data have been lacking. This study focuses on determining the organic content of fluids from ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal systems from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) and the origin of the compounds. Fluids were collected from the Lost City, Rainbow, Ashadze and Logatchev vent fields during the EXOMAR (2005), SERPENTINE (2007), MoMARDREAMnaut (2007) and MOMAR08-Leg2 (2008) cruises conducted by IFREMER, France. A SBSE-TD-GC-MS technique was developed and used to extract, concentrate, separate and identify compounds in the fluids. Hydrothermally derived compounds appeared to consist mainly of hydrocarbons and O-bearing molecules. In addition, some amino acids were detected in the fluids by ULPC-ESI-QToF-MS but their origin will need to be determined. The organic content of the Rainbow fluids did not show intra field variability unlike differences could be noted over the years. In order to address the question of the source of the molecules, compound specific carbon isotopic analyses were carried out and completed with a bacterial (Pyrococcus abyssi) hydrothermal degradation experiment. The δ13C data fall in the range of -40 to -30‰ (vs. V-PDB), but individual δ13C values preclude the identification of a biogenic or abiogenic origin of the compounds. The degradation experiment, however, suggests an abiogenic origin of a portion of saturated hydrocarbons whereas carboxylic acids would be biogenic, and aromatic compounds would be thermogenic. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Submitted. Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: Submitted. / MoMARnet

The management of water resources and waste water varies between the countries of the EU. For many years, a large part of the water in Europe has been contaminated by, among other things, insufficiently treated waste water and emissions from agriculture. The EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and the Urban Waste Water Directive 91/271/EEC are intended to harmonize fresh-water management and waste water management within the whole EU, aiming at safeguarding drinking water of good quality and a high quality of all water within the EU today and in the future. There are however some problems concerning the waste-water directive. One problem is the huge investment needed in Slovakia to fulfil the demands of the waste-water directive for waste-water management in larger communities (with more than 2000 inhabitants). Many waste-water treatment plants need to be upgraded or built, and in addition a large part of the households in eastern Slovakia are not yet connected to a municipal water-supply and waste-water collecting system (including waste-water treatment). Subsidies from the EU’s structural funds are needed for Slovakia to fulfil the requirements of the waste-water directive. Because this directive only applies to larger communities, smaller communities and private sewage are not affected by the directive and therefore, in general, not eligible for financial funding from EU. Financial funding, however, is needed for addressing inadequate sewage in small communities with poor socioeconomic and municipal financial resources. For water protection to be effective, it is important to take also private sewage emissions into consideration, even though they might appear insignificant. Point emissions from insufficient private sewage (private sewage systems with insufficient waste-water treatment or emission of untreated waste water), primarily in small, tightly clustered communities in Slovakia or for example in Sweden in areas where weekend houses are being converted into permanent dwellings, are potential sources of pollution that can cause health or/and environmental problems. Inadequate private sewage can thus reduce the quality of both surface and ground water and have a negative impact on aquatic ecosystems, which in turn makes it more difficult to reach the quality standards of the Water Framework Directive and its daughter directives. This applies to both Slovakia and Sweden. The private sewage solutions that are recommended today are often satisfactory but not without problems. To give an example, miniature waste water treatment plants are expensive to put in place, require technological knowledge on the part of the property owner and they also require a daily flow of waste water to function properly. Improper handling of the miniature water treatment plant may cause inefficient or no water treatment at all, in some cases the bacterial content of the waste water may increase instead of being reduced. To address the problem concerning private sewage it is important that (1) waste-water solutions are adapted to local circumstances and financial funding are given to economically week municipalities (2) the property owner (owner of the private sewage) regularly controls the quality of the out-going treated wastewater (if it is possible) and (3) that efficient inspections with injunctions (from authorities) are carried out to discover faulty private sewage. Unfortunately financial funding, in general, is not given to small municipalities and/or inappropriate private sewage and inspections, both in Slovakia and Sweden, are generally slow.

In 1999 the Swedish Parliament decided about 15 environmental goals aimed to be achieved in time for the next generation. For example physical social planning must be based on programs and strategies how cultural-historical values has been attended, so called programs of cultural heritage. By law the Swedish municipalities are responsible for reaching these goals by creating program of cultural heritage. But only a few of the municipalities have these programs, meaning that many municipalities need to create programs of cultural heritage in the next five years. The aim of this report is to present a model of analysis on programs of cultural heritage in municipalities for preservation and development of cultural environments. By testing the model on the municipalities of Osby and Tomelilla methods on how to create a new program of cultural heritage or how to complete existing documents are formulated. One of the conclusions is that one document, program of cultural heritage, functions as landscape analysis, model of cultural valuation and strategy of developing cultural values. One condition is that the program of cultural heritage is established in social planning in the municipality. Two case-studies, the Osby and Tomelilla programs of cultural heritage with text-analysis and interviews, constitutes the study. The municipalities do not use these programs in full extension, often based on ignorance. When the program isn’t established with politicians or employees it can’t be established with citizens. The study shows great differences between the program in Tomelilla which can be applied to the physical social planning, and the program in Osby which can’t. The conclusion is that the program needs to be adjusted for the cause if the program can’t be applied in the hysical social planning in the municipality. The common meaning in the municipalities is that cultural heritage is a positive factor, which makes it possible to reach the environmental goals, regional development, tourism et cetera. One important part in a program of cultural heritage is to erase the boundaries between nature, recreation and culture by finding the starting point in the specific environment, not based on the administrative responsibility.

Surface elevation is likely the most fundamental property of our planet. In contrast to land topography, bathymetry, its underwater equivalent, remains uncertain in many parts of the World ocean. Bathymetry is relevant for a wide range of research topics and for a variety of societal needs. Examples, where knowing the exact water depth or the morphology of the seafloor is vital include marine geology, physical oceanography, the propagation of tsunamis and documenting marine habitats. Decisions made at administrative level based on bathymetric data include safety of maritime navigation, spatial planning along the coast, environmental protection and the exploration of the marine resources. This thesis covers different aspects of ocean mapping from the collection of echo sounding data to the application of Digital Bathymetric Models (DBMs) in Quaternary marine geology and physical oceanography. Methods related to DBM compilation are developed, namely a flexible handling and storage solution for heterogeneous sounding data and a method for the interpolation of such data onto a regular lattice. The use of bathymetric data is analyzed in detail for the Baltic Sea. With the wide range of applications found, the needs of the users are varying. However, most applications would benefit from better depth data than what is presently available. Based on glaciogenic landforms found in the Arctic Ocean seafloor morphology, a possible scenario for Quaternary Arctic Ocean glaciation is developed. Our findings suggest large ice shelves around parts of the Arctic Ocean during Marine Isotope Stage 6, 130–200 ka. Steered by bathymetry, deep water from the Amerasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean flows over the central Lomonosov Ridge into the Eurasian Basin. This water mass is traced on its continuing way towards Greenland and the Fram Strait. At the Morris Jesup Rise, bathymetry plays an important role in the partial re-circulation of the water into the Amerasian Basin. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Submitted.</p>

The formation of modern society has been dominated by coal and oil, and together these two fossil fuels account for nearly two thirds of all primary energy used by mankind.  This makes future production a key question for future social development and this thesis attempts to answer whether it is possible to rely on an assumption of ever increasing production of coal and oil. Both coal and oil are finite resources, created over long time scales by geological processes. It is thus impossible to extract more fossil fuels than geologically available. In other words, there are limits to growth imposed by nature. The concept of depletion and exhaustion of recoverable resources is a fundamental question for the future extraction of coal and oil. Historical experience shows that peaking is a well established phenomenon in production of various natural resources. Coal and oil are no exceptions, and historical data shows that easily exploitable resources are exhausted while more challenging deposits are left for the future. For oil, depletion can also be tied directly to the physical laws governing fluid flows in reservoirs. Understanding and predicting behaviour of individual fields, in particularly giant fields, are essential for understanding future production. Based on comprehensive databases with reserve and production data for hundreds of oilfields, typical patterns were found. Alternatively, depletion can manifest itself indirectly through various mechanisms. This has been studied for coal. Over 60% of the global crude oil production is derived from only around 330 giant oilfields, where many of them are becoming increasingly mature. The annual decline in existing oil production has been determined to be around 6% and it is unrealistic that this will be offset by new field developments, additional discoveries or unconventional oil. This implies that the peak of the oil age is here. For coal a similar picture emerges, where 90% of the global coal production originates from only 6 countries. Some of them, such as the USA show signs of increasing maturity and exhaustion of the recoverable amounts. However, there is a greater uncertainty about the recoverable reserves and coal production may yield a global maximum somewhere between 2030 and 2060. This analysis shows that the global production peaks of both oil and coal can be expected comparatively soon. This has significant consequences for the global energy supply and society, economy and environment. The results of this thesis indicate that these challenges should not be taken lightly.

Oil is the black blood that runs through the veins of the modern global energy system. While being the dominant source of energy, oil has also brought wealth and power to the western world. Future supply for oil is unsure or even expected to decrease due to limitations imposed by peak oil. Energy is fundamental to all parts of society. The enormous growth and development of society in the last two-hundred years has been driven by rapid increase in the extraction of fossil fuels. In the foresee-able future, the majority of energy will still come from fossil fuels. Consequently, reliable methods for forecasting their production, especially crude oil, are crucial. Forecasting crude oil production can be done in many different ways, but in order to provide realistic outlooks, one must be mindful of the physical laws that affect extraction of hydrocarbons from a reser-voir. Decline curve analysis is a long established tool for developing future outlooks for oil production from an individual well or an entire oilfield. Depletion has a fundamental role in the extraction of finite resources and is one of the driving mechanisms for oil flows within a reservoir. Depletion rate also can be connected to decline curves. Consequently, depletion analysis is a useful tool for analysis and forecasting crude oil production. Based on comprehensive databases with reserve and production data for hundreds of oil fields, it has been possible to identify typical behaviours and properties. Using a combination of depletion and decline rate analysis gives a better tool for describing future oil production on a field-by-field level. Reliable and reasonable forecasts are essential for planning and nec-essary in order to understand likely future world oil production.

Coastal waters have high biological productivity and provide goods and services with a high monetary value. Coasts are used by many different stakeholders and are often densely populated. These factors put coastal ecosystems under heavy environmental pressure and place high demands on politicians and coastal managers, who need suitable tools to facilitate decision-making. Geographic information systems and predictive mass balance models are two such tools, and the form of coastal areas (morphometry) is an important component of both tools in coastal management. In this thesis it was shown that the form and function of coastal areas are interrelated in a number of ways. Morphometric parameters can be used to identify coastal areas that are more sensitive to pollution, or that potentially have higher ecological value; and morphometric analysis is an essential part of mass balance modeling. New ways of using morphometry for estimation of benthic production potential were presented and tested. It was shown that there are great differences in benthic production potential among Swedish coastal areas and regions. Different morphometric descriptors of openness were developed and tested; these can be used in habitat mapping or for prediction of sediment bottom types. Significant correlation was found between the morphometric properties of coastal areas, the proportion of accumulation bottom areas and the critical depth. Statistical models for prediction of accumulation bottom areas and critical depth were also obtained using multiple regression. Large differences were found in empirical values of bottom dynamic conditions from two different sources. Algorithms from a well tested mass balance model were adapted for modeling salt in the Baltic Sea. This enabled calculation of water exchange between five basins on a monthly time scale, which can be of use in future modeling studies. The study included morphometric analysis for structuring the model and for calculation of input data.