Rapporten ämnar undersöka bottensediment bärgade från ett område i västraGotlandsbassängen i Östersjön. Östersjön är ett ansträngt bräckvattenhav medutbredda övergödningsproblem, döda bottnar och hotad biologisk fauna. Söktaresultat berör fosforhalt, förekommande metaller, mineralsammansättning,kornstorleksfraktioner samt organisk halt för ett projekt där målet ärsedimentbärgning för betongindustrin och brytning av fosfor som arbetar motövergödning med kretslopp och cirkulär ekonomi. Detta uppnås med följandeanalysmetoder: ICP-MS, XRD, TGA och laserdiffraktometer tillsammans med RISE CBI. Analyserna visade att sedimentet är ett finsediment med en hög organisk halt ochkan klassificeras som postglacial siltgyttja och innehåller 1,63 mg/kg TS fosfor.Förekommande mineral är albit, kvarts och glimmer. Metaller som påträffades var,men inte uteslutande kisel, 214000 mg/kg TS, aluminium 80600 mg/kg torrt sediment(TS) och järn 49900 mg/kg TS. Under diskussionen hanteras renings-ochseparationsprocesser för fosfor och metaller, av vilka Bio-P metoden ochhyperackumulerande växter tas upp. / This project aimed to investigate sediment salvaged from an area in the westernGotland basin of the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is a stressed brackish water sea withextensive eutrophication problems, so-called dead zones and threatened fauna. Theresults relate to phosphorus content, prevalent metals, mineral composition, grainsize distribution, and organic content. This work is part of a project where the goal isphosphorous recovery for concrete and phosphorus mining with circulation andcircular economics to better the current situation in the Baltic sea. The physical andchemical properties of the sediments were investigated using the following analyticalmethods: ICP-MS, XRD, TGA and laser diffractometer together with RISE CBI.The results show that the sediment is a postglacial silt gyttja, with a phosphorouscontent of 1.63 mg / kg of dry sediment (DS). Existing minerals are albite, quartz andmica. Elements found were, but not exclusively silica, 214000 mg/kg DS, aluminium80600 mg/kg DS and iron 49900 mg/kg DS. Relevant purification and separation processes for phosphorus and metals, of which the Bio-P method and hyper-accumulating plants are two, are discussed.

This study is a multidisciplinary approach to Species Distribution Modelling (SDM) where predictive models have been developed regarding the current distribution and potential spread of two invasive species found in Baltic Sea waters. Invasive species in the Baltic have long been an ecological and economic problem and the two species studied are well known for their adaptability in colonization and detrimental effects on local ecology all over the world. First, the Round Goby (Neogobius Melanostomus) has been steadily colonizing the Swedish Baltic coastline since 2008, the impact of which on local ecosystems is not fully understood. Also, the Chinese Mitten Crab (Eriocheir Sinensis), found in Swedish waters since the 1930’s, has been known to be a robust invader of ecosystems but presence in the Baltic is still not well explained. Four high spatial resolution models have been developed, three respective Round Goby and one for Mitten Crab. Two models are specific to the Blekinge/Hanöbukten region of the Swedish Baltic Sea coast, showing predicted current distribution of Round Goby. Two are predictions of Round Goby and Mitten Crab transferred or projected to other regions, with different approaches in setting model parameters and choosing variables, showing current and potential distribution. This study features: exploratory data analysis and filtering using GIS tools, highly discriminant environmental variable selection and rejection, and several different approaches to modelling in Maxent using custom and default settings. Predictive maps have been developed showing current distribution and potential spread as well as explanatory tabular data outlining direct and indirect drivers of species presence. Maxent has proven to be a powerful predictive tool on a regional basis, and proximity to introduction locations play a major role. Maxent, used in combination with spatial data modelling, exploration and filtering techniques has yielded a valid explanatory model as well. Transferring predictions to other regions is quite sensitive, however, and can depend heavily on species, sampling strategy and similarity of habitat type. Round Goby predictions were successfully created regionally and transferred to Stockholm, but Mitten Crab predictions were not successfully transferred to Blekinge.

Animals living in marine sediments (the second largest habitat on earth) play a major role in global biogeochemical cycling. By feeding on organic matter from settled phytoplankton blooms they produce food for higher trophic levels and nutrients that can fuel primary production. In the Baltic Sea, anthropogenic stresses, such as eutrophication and introductions of invasive species, have altered phytoplankton dynamics and benthic communities. This thesis discusses the effects of different types of phytoplankton on the deposit-feeding community and the importance of benthic biodiversity for fate of the phytoplankton bloom-derived organic matter. Deposit-feeders survived and fed on settled cyanobacterial bloom material and in doing so accumulated the cyanobacterial toxin nodularin. Their growth after feeding on cyanobacteria was much slower than on a diet of spring bloom diatoms. The results show that settling blooms of cyanobacteria are used as food without obvious toxic effects, although they do not sustain rapid growth of the fauna. Since all tested species accumulated the cyanotoxin, negative effects higher up in the food web can not be ruled out. Both species composition and richness of deposit-feeding macrofauna influenced how much of the phytoplankton bloom material that was incorporated in fauna or retained in the sediment. The mechanism behind the positive effect of species richness was mainly niche differentiation among functionally different species, resulting in a more efficient utilization of resources at greater biodiversity. This was observed even after addition of an invasive polychaete species. Hence, species loss can be expected to affect benthic productivity negatively. In conclusion, efficiency in organic matter processing depends both on pelagic phytoplankton quality and benthic community composition and species richness. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 4: In press. Paper 5: Manuscript.</p>

Ecological studies are often performed to investigate ecosystems from a taxonomic point of view (e.g. species richness or species composition). However, investigating variations in organism traits, rather than variations based on taxonomy, can yield higher mechaninistic understanding of the ecosystem. Invertebrate communities in shallow bays have not been subject for extensive investigations of traits. Thus, this study aimed to assess impacts on trait composition of invertebrates in shallow bays by five factors: (i) topographic openness, (ii) nitrogen load, (iii) filamentous algae, (iv) submerged plants, and (v) predatory fish. In order to investigate these connections, a large-scale field sampling of shallow bay ecosystems in the Swedish part of the Baltic Sea was conducted. Statistical analysis was performed using permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) based on distance matrices, and the results were visualized with nonmetric multidimensional scaling (nMDS). The results show that topographic openness and submerged plants in shallow bays structure invertebrate trait composition. Topographic openness was shown to impact the traits of invertebrate communities slightly more (19 %) than submerged plants (14 %). Several traits are shown to be the drivers behind these results. However, not all effects on traits by the factors seem to be direct effects; some effects are likely seen due to indirect effects. The lack of effect of predatory fish is discussed and may be due to artifacts. Furthermore, different elements of trait-based studies are briefly discussed and recommendations for future trait studies are given. / PlantFish

Beobachtete und über parametns1erte Beziehungen berechnete Windreibungs-koeffizienten werden für die Zeit eines Sturms, der in der Zeit zwischen dem 08.07.96 und 11.07.96 an der Ostseeküste tobte, verglichen. Die innerhalb der ufernahen Zone aus Windprofildaten ermittelten Reibungskoeffizienten lassen sich mit weniger als 20% Fehler auch über vorliegende parametrisierten Beziehungen aus einer standardisierten Windgeschwindigkeitsmessung berechnen. / A comparison between observed and calculated wind drag coefficients were investigated during a storm with wind speeds up to 20 m/s at the Baltic Sea coast between 3th July, 1996 and 1 lth July, 1996. The drag coefficient which was determined from observed wind speeds from wind profile measurements can also be predicted on behalf of parameterised relations with a random error less then 20%.

To counteract one of the most urgent environmental issues in the Baltic Sea; eutrophication, excessivealgal blooms and hypoxia, a proposal to use wave energy to pump oxygen-rich surface water towardsthe sea bottom is investigated. Proposals have suggested that 100 kg of oxygen per second is needed tooxygenate bottom water and enhance binding of phosphorus to bottom sediments. This corresponds to 10 000 m3/s of oxygen-rich surface water. This thesis investigates a wave-powered device to facilitatethis oxygen ux. Results give expected water flow rates between 0.15 - 0.40 m3/s and meter breakwater.The mean specic wave power for the analyzed wave data is calculated to be between 3 - 4 kW/m wavecrest and the median to 1 kW/m. This study indicate, however, that the energy uxes in the BalticProper are signicantly higher. The study gives that the wave climate of the Baltic Sea is suffciently intense to facilitate vertical pumping with a feasible number of breakwaters. A full-scale implementationin the Baltic Sea would require some 300 to 1 200 oating breakwaters of a length of 50 m each. Thetotal cost is roughly estimated to 170 - 680 million EURO. The study also concludes that the interleavingof surface water should be constrained to a relatively small vertical distance from the outlet depth(20 - 30 m) and not stir up deep water to the surface. Wave modelling for the proposed pilot locationKanholmsfjärden indicate that this bay is not large enough to permanently produce a favorable waveclimate. It is, however, still an interesting location consistently to its vicinity to Stockholm and relativelylong measurement series.

The introduction of the European Union (EU) macro-regional strategies (MRS) in the latter half of the 2000s was a significant step in the process of transformation of EU governance system. EU MRSs act as a new form of comprehensive governance framework for multi-objective and cross-sectoral cooperation in geographically defined macro-regions. This thesis examines the case of the Baltic Sea Region in order to evaluate a potential of this new governance instrument to transform cooperation arrangements in the region. In order to shed light on the strategy’s patterns and dynamics, the present study utilizes a qualitative methodological approach that uses document analysis based on a comprehensive analytical framework. The analytical framework incorporates the theoretical perspectives of multi-level and experimentalist governance, as well as the theory of differentiated integration. The main findings of this study suggest that the inception of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) in 2009 has offered an innovative and dynamic framework for cooperation that enabled a wider representation and more active participation of local and regional actors. This allowed for a more coherent and coordinated policymaking, facilitated a more responsive and transparent cooperation system in the region, as well as fostered transnational cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region by ensuring a wider engagement of non-EU countries.

The purpose of this study is to examine the seldom researched Swedish geopolitical interests inNorway in the first half of the 17th century, with the brief 1658 conquest of Trondheim as itscentral event of inquiry. Through the study of privy council protocols and chancellor AxelOxenstierna’s correspondence, the study builds a case for the confluence of security, commerce, andthe concepts of nations as the influencing factors that shaped Swedish imperial foreign policy in thedecades leading up to the dramatic war of 1658, yielding a theoretical construction of the Empire’sBaltic doctrine, or the Oxenstierna doctrine, as an explanatory model for Sweden’s early modernexpansion patterns. Subsequently through understanding of the Empire’s expansionist rationaleleading up to 1658, the conquest of the Norwegian province of Trondheim is put in a new light ashaving been an interruptive and complicated re-imagining of what the Swedish Empire should be.

Sustainable governance of natural resources is challenged by the poor understanding of complex human-nature couplings. Major advancements in resilience theory, acknowledging the importance of social-ecological linkages and the self-organizing capacity of social-ecological systems, provides a new perspective on research in sustainability science. Yet, limitations in methods and data for integrated studies of social-ecological systems limit progress in science and management. This PhD project aims to generate and test specific hypotheses building on social-ecological systems theory using a variety of methods and a long-term, multidimensional empirical dataset of the Baltic Sea social-ecological fisheries system. In paper 1, we ask which factors have impacted change in fisheries patterns in the Baltic Sea over a 15 year period, 1995-2009. We conclude that the responses of fishers are largely driven by top-down management regulations, which has favoured increasing scale of operations and specialization, and that the capacity of fishers to engage in ecosystem stewardship is low. Resilience could be enhanced through an increased focus on governance actions that can stimulate the self-organising capacity of the system Paper 2 focuses on one particular fishery, whose long-term dynamics have been strongly driven by an ecological regime-shift in the Baltic Sea. High potential profits and weak control has raised suspicions of widespread misreporting in this fishery. By developing a new method for reconstructing catches, we suggest that under-reporting has been significant, and likely driven by high economic incentives created by ill-designed policy. This misreporting risks contributing to a negative feed-back that substantially alters   the management cycle, and thereby constitutes a part of a social-ecological trap in this fishery. The research within this project so far indicates that there are good prospects for using the Baltic Sea as case for integrated social-ecological studies, aiming at informing resilience theory. Some ideas on future direction of the research are outlined.

Beach cusps, formed during a storm are observed. The storm acted for three hours together with high water conditions. These beach cusps exhibited a quasiuniform wavelength of 8 m. The measured topography after the storm, the calculated drift velocity of the incident wave and the synchronous edge wave are similar in scale and shape. The over one wavelength measured grain size is also correlated to the topography. A nonlinear hydro-numerical model is used to investigate the reaction of edge waves on alongshore change in bottom topography. Edge waves are greatly amplified over beach cusps. The relative amplification of edge waves on beach cusps is more than 17 times that without a change in longshore topography. Amplification is slightly greater for edge waves travelling in the same direction as the longshore current during the storm. An almost random positioning of sediment starts a feedback loop, which allows edge waves to grow and build short periodic cusps.