Movement increases the probability for an individual to find food resources, but also increase the metabolic costs and exposure to predators. Hence, swimming behavior of fish is strongly coupled to fitness. Even though swimming activity has been studied in numerous laboratory settings, less is known about in situ activity and its dependence on abiotic factors (temperature, light conditions and barometric pressure). In this study I hypothesized that the activity increases with 1) increasing temperature and decrease with 2) barometric pressure variability and 3) average light conditions (h/day). In order to test the universality of the three hypotheses I also searched for size dependent effects. Fish activity (km/day) was measured in three lakes on individual fish (N=14-21 per lake) using acoustic telemetry providing tracking of fish at a time resolution from seconds to hours. A positive correlation between temperature and swimming activity in line with my first hypothesis was only observed in one of the lakes. The activity decreased with increased variability in barometric pressure in two of the lakes, a finding supporting my second hypothesis. Meanwhile increased light conditions (h/day) decreased activity in one of the lakes, as predicted by my third hypothesis. Nevertheless, none of my hypotheses were valid in all three of the lakes and perch reacted differently to the abiotic factors. One of the possible explanations for this is the importance of size differences as I noticed that the swimming activity differed between bigger and smaller individuals. My findings suggest that not only the temperature, barometric pressure and light conditions alone predict the activity in perch, but also the fish individual size, predation and the metabolic costs linked to thermoregulation.

Det moderna trakthyggesbruket har haft en stor inverkan på biodiversiteten i skogen. Många organismer som är beroende av skogar med strukturer knutna till äldre skogar minskar i antal och är numera hotade. Idag debatteras hurvida alternativa skogsbruksmetoder är bättre på att bevara skogens struktur och den biologiska mångfalden. I denna litteraturstudie sammanställdes studier som har jämfört hur olika skogsbruksmetoder påverkat biodiversiteten i olika skogsbestånd. Framför allt ingår studier som har undersökt biodiversiteten i boreala skogar. Resultatet visade att plockhuggning i högre grad bibehåller strukturerna och utseendet av en äldre skog och hade minst påverkan på de arter som är knutna till äldre, kontinuerlig skog. För några av de känsligaste arterna har dock all avverkning en negativ inverkan. Kalavverkning är det som förändrar artsammansättningen mest. Vid kalavverkning byts ofta arter som är beroende av kontinuitetsskog ut mot generalister och arter som föredrar öppna ytor. Studierna visar att större naturvårdshänsyn vid trakthyggesbruk ibland kan minska påverkan på artsammansättningen. Alla slags skogsbruksmetoder minskar på mängden och försämrar kvalitén på död ved i skogen. Studierna visar att flera alternativa skogsbruksmetoder har större potential att bevara eller skapa framtida död ved jämfört med trakthyggesbruk. Resultat visar också att det finns flera lämpliga metoder som kan användas för att bruka skogen. För att uppnå och bibehålla en hög biodiversitet på landskapsnivå verkar en blandning av olika skogsbruksmetoder optimalt. Mer forskning på området behövs om vi i framtiden ska ha ett hållbart skogsbruk med god avkastning och  samtidigt skydda biodiversiteten i skogen. / The modern clear-cutting practice in forestry has had a major impact on biodiversity in the forest. Many organisms that depend on structures linked to older forests are declining in number and are now endangered. Today, it is debated whether alternative forestry methods are better at preserving the structure of the forest and the biological diversity. In this literature study, studies were compiled that have compared how different forestry methods have affected biodiversity. The results showed that continuous cover forestry to a greater extent retains the structures of an older forest and had the least impact on the species associated with older, continuous forest. For some of the most sensitive species, however, all felling has a negative impact. Clear-cutting is what changes the species composition the most, and species that depend on continuity forests are often replaced by generalists and species that prefer open habitats. The studies show that greater nature conservation considerations in clear-cutting can sometimes reduce the impact on species composition. All kinds of forestry methods reduce the amount and degrade the quality of dead wood in the forest. The studies show that several alternative forestry methods have a greater potential to preserve or create dead wood compared to clear-cutting. Results also show that there are several suitable methods that can be used in forestry. In order to achieve and maintain a high level of biodiversity at landscape level, a mixture of different forestry methods seems optimal.

Hydrological drought at high latitudes represents a rising environmental hazard induced byglobal climate change. Yet, we still know little about how drought events influence thebiogeochemistry of boreal streams. Here, I used 15 years of data from eight streams withinthe Krycklan Catchment to test how interannual variability in summer low flows influencesstream water chemistry. My analysis focused several key biogeochemical indicators in thesestreams, including concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved organicnitrogen (DON), nitrate (NO3) and ammonium (NH4), as well as the total C/N and NH4/NO3ratios. Overall, results revealed widespread declines in summer average DOC concentrationsand C/N ratios with greater drought severity. These responses likely reflect shifts in thebiogeochemical properties of soils that feed streams during high- versus low-flow summers.By comparison, nitrogen-based parameters were less clearly influenced by drought, exceptfor in mire-dominated headwaters, where NH4 and DON both increased during the lowestflow periods. Overall, the strong effects of flow variability drove a high degree of interannualsynchrony for DOC and C/N across all sites in the drainage system. This synchrony was morevariable overall for nitrogen-based parameters, with several sites having unique year-to-yearchanges in concentrations and ratios. However, strong temporal coherence for NH4 acrossforested streams suggest other broad-scale factors (e.g., related to forest processes) mayregulate interannual patterns for this nutrient. Collectively, results provide insight into howincreases in drought frequency and severity may alter boreal streams and rivers in the future.

Biodiversity has been heavily impacted by anthropogenic landscape changes associated with natural resource extraction. Terrestrial mammals, which disproportionately maintain ecosystem functions, are among the species most affected by anthropogenic landscape changes. In turn, it is important that we incorporate mammal conservation into natural resource extraction to mitigate biodiversity change, for which we must better understand the dynamics of mammal communities. I used data from motion-activated camera traps deployed in the northwest Nearctic to investigate two aspects of mammal communities: how the environment shapes fine-scale mammal diversity and how mammalian predator species coexist. In my first study, I compared how well natural and anthropogenic landscape features explain fine-scale mammal diversity within and between six variably industrialized landscapes. I found that anthropogenic landscape features explain fine-scale mammal diversity better than natural features in heavily industrialized landscapes, where they may increase or decrease diversity. In my second study, I examined whether prey partitioning facilitates the coexistence of mammalian predator species in an industrialized boreal landscape. My findings suggest that sympatric predator species only partially partition prey, as some predator species had identical prey associations. Strikingly, though, I also found that all predators were positively associated with white-tailed deer, an invasive prey species made abundant by industrial landscape changes. Together, these findings reveal that industrial landscape changes significantly alter both the spatial distributions and predator–prey dynamics of mammal communities. This work can inform conservation and restoration strategies for slowing biodiversity change. / Graduate

Anthropogenic activities have increased nitrogen (N) emissions. However, higher N deposition is associated with negative fallouts in ecosystems, highlighting the necessity to define its critical load (CLO). Lichens, with their lack of roots, stomata, and cuticles, are helpful air pollution indicators and can be used to establish N CLO. Several studies report epiphytic lichens’ reaction to N deposition, but few have also focused on their recovery. In this study, I reproduced a deposition gradient to investigate epiphytic lichen biomass response to long-term N deposition. As such, whole trees were fertilized with 0.6, 6, 12.5, 25, or 50 kg N/ha/year from 2006 to 2012. In 2012, after six years of irrigation, Hypogymnia species and A. sarmentosa had altered biomass, and based on those results, a CLO below 6 kg N/ha/year is recommended for epiphytic lichens in the boreal forest. I also investigated the recovery of epiphytic lichens nine years after the simulated N deposition ceased. In 2021, a high increase in lichen biomass was recorded, suggesting that lichen growth rate is faster than previously assumed by other studies. However, biomass recovery was lower in high N treatments in Hypogymnia sp., Bryoria sp., and A. sarmentosa, suggesting those species recall the historical treatments possibly due to retained impairments. Since differences among treatments increased in the nine years after the simulated N deposition ceased, my results indicate that short-term negative effects of N deposition can have long-lasting effects on the epiphytic lichen community. Thus, I stress the importance of considering the recovery capability of different species during CLO determination to avoid underestimating the impact of N deposition.

No description available.

Soil nutrient availability is a key component to understanding the boreal ecosystems, as it directly relates to plant productivity and ecosystem diversity. There is however little known about how the nutrient availability changes seasonally in the boreal forest. This study aimed to understand how soil temperature and nutrient availability changed seasonally as well as with or without reindeer grazing. This was done through measuring NH4, NO3, PO4, total N, and C:N ratio in soil samples taken in- and outside a reindeer exclosure in northern Sweden and then analyzing for differences over sampling time, grazing treatment, and the interaction of both. Differences in soil temperature were more extreme in the grazed areas, giving higher summer temperatures and lower winter temperatures, due to a decreased layer of insulating lichens. Increased soil temperatures also resulted in lowering the C:N ratio, possibly by enhancing the microbial activity leading to larger amounts of CO2 being released. No nutrients differed by grazing treatments, possibly due to the system being complex enough to contain contradicting effects. No systematical differences in seasonal nutrient levels could be found, which was deemed as surprising, but opens for the possibility of sampling one time being sufficient to have an approximation of nutrient levels all year round

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest carbon pool in terrestrial ecosystems, which plays an important role in climate change by regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide. Sweden’s forest management has led to a decrease in old growth forests. This change in land use can affect SOC levels in these forests. This report quantified SOC stocks among different wetness classes in 10 old growth forests across multiple regional environmental gradients in Sweden. I tested for the effects of some different environmental factors on SOC: temperature, precipitation, altitude, stem basal area, latitude, and normalized difference vegetation index. Soil measurements were taken from three different horizons: the O-, E-, and B-horizon. The results showed that the mean SOC stock in old growth forests (5.25 ± 0.60 kg m-2)  is a bit higher than the regional average (4.1 ± 0.5 kg m-2) and that local variation within forests, mainly due to hydrology, appears to drive variation that is often as big or larger than regional variations. There were no significant differences between the different forests, but there were significant differences found between the different wetness classes. There were several correlations found between the different regional environmental factors and SOC stocks. The most prominent relationship was a positive link between the O-horizons’ SOC stocks and temperature (R2adj = 0.58). Overall, these results indicate that SOC stocks in old growth forests are affected by both soil wetness at a local scale and air temperature at a regional scale; and that they might contain a slightly larger amount of SOC than managed forests.

In situ measurements of soil nitrogen dynamics is a potential method for evaluating the health of constructed wetlands following oil sands mining. The objective of this study is to measure and compare the soil nitrogen availability of a reclaimed fen (Sandhill fen) with a nutrient-rich reference fen (Poplar fen) and a nutrient-poor reference fen (Pauciflora fen) in the Athabasca oil sands region of northern Alberta. Total Nitrogen (TN), Nitrate (NO3-) and Ammonium (NH4+) supply rates were determined along wetland hillslope transects using Western Ag Innovations Plant Root Simulator (PRSTM) probes at all three sites in 2014. Net N mineralization, net nitrification and net ammonification were determined simultaneously using the buried polyethylene bag sampling method. Overall, TN supply rates were greatest at the poor fen and least at the constructed Sandhill fen. In contrast, mineralization was greatest at the rich fen but again least at the Sandhill fen. Mineralization at the Sandhill fen was controlled evenly by ammonification and nitrification, whereas the two natural sites were controlled by ammonification. Relatively low N supply rates and mineralization at the Sandhill fen were likely due to lower soil organic matter and limited soil moisture in these newly constructed substrates. Spatial differences along the hillslopes also varied among sites. The Sandhill fen had higher TN supply rates at the upslope positions but no significant differences in net N mineralization rates along the hillslopes. The rich fen also had higher TN supply rates at the upslope but greatest mineralization rates downslope. These results highlight the importance of N storage and transport processes and offer insight into the N status of a constructed fen. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

A 7.09 m lacustrine sediment core was taken from Mariana Lake, Alberta (55º57'N, 112º01'W) to determine if the regional vegetational complex had been affected by the mid-Holocene Hypsithermal. Dating control was provided by 6 radiocarbon dates, with a second degree polynomial fitted to the dates to give an age to depth curve. The basal date of the core is 11 300 ± 110 yr BP. Fossil pollen analysis of the core revealed five distinct pollen zones. Between 11 856 and 10 434 yr BP the study site supported a sparse herb dominated vegetation. A spruce and shrub birch assemblage followed, from 10 434 to 9 100 yr BP, with increased vegetation density. The climate was likely similar to today. This was replaced by a paper birch and spruce complex from 9 100 to 7 638 yr BP likely as a result of warming climate. A mild Hypsithermal effect is recorded between 7 638 and 5 623 yr BP. A forest of decreased crown density was created, with spruce, paper birch and poplar being the major vegetational components. Modern conditions have existed at the site from 5 623 yr BP onwards, though it is hypothesised the regional water budget may have increased slightly around 2 228 yr BP; increased peat development appears to have occurred at this time. Through the use of difference diagrams the site is compared to three other published sites which, along with Mariana Lake, form a north-south transect from the southern Boreal Forest to the northern Alberta Boreal Forest. The hypsithermal vegetation changes varies with distance to the Parkland-Boreal Forest ecotone boundary. It is concluded the parkland did not reach Mariana Lake during the mid-Holocene, though conditions at the site became similar to those at the southern edge of the Boreal Forest that is proximal to the parkland. / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)