Urban forests play key roles in animal and plant biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services.  Habitat fragmentation and expanding urbanization threaten biodiversity in and around urban areas.  Saproxylic beetles can act as bioindicators of forest health and their diversity may help to explain and define urban-forest edge effects.  I explored the relationship between saproxylic beetle diversity and distance to an urban area along nine transects in the Västra Götaland region of Sweden.  Specifically, the relationships between abundance and species richness and distance from the urban-forest boundary, forest age, forest volume, and tree species ratio was investigated Unbaited flight interception traps were set at intervals of 0, 250, and 500 meters from an urban-forest boundary to measure beetle abundance and richness.  A total of 4182 saproxylic beetles representing 179 species were captured over two months.  Distance from the urban forest boundary showed little overall effect on abundance suggesting urban proximity does not affect saproxylic beetle abundance.  There was an effect on species richness, with saproxylic species richness greater closer to the urban-forest boundary.  Forest volume had a very small positive effect on both abundance and species richness likely due to a limited change in volume along each transect.  An increase in the occurrence of deciduous tree species proved to be an important factor driving saproxylic beetle abundance moving closer to the urban-forest.  Overall, analysis showed inconsistent effects on both abundance and richness as functions of proximity to the urban-forest boundary.  Urban edge effects, forest volume, forest age, and forest tree species make up are all variables that may effect saproxylic abundance and species richness.  Forest managers should consider these variables when making management decisions.

Studien undersöker om landskapsförändringar som skett i jordbrukslandskapet under 1900-talet kan ha ett samband med fältviltspopulationens minskning under 1900-talet. Fältvilt är ett begrepp för arter som lever i det öppna jordbrukslandskapet, rapphöna, fasan och fälthare är arter som ingår i gruppen fältvilt. I studien undersöks också populationerna för rådjur och gräsand, då det är arter som förekommer i det öppna odlingslandskapet. Studieperioden är åren 1923-1975. Flygfoto över Högestads gods från åren 1938,1957 och 1975 används i arbetet. Flygfotona har använts till att utläsa vilka landskapsförändringar som skett i området under studieperioden. Studien baseras också på avskjutningsstatistik för godset från åren 1923-1969, sammanställd av Skånska Jägarsällskapet. Under denna period har det skett landskapsförändringar i hela Sverige och så även i skånska Högestad. Undersökningsområdet har genomgått en stor förändring i jordbrukslandskapet under studieperioden; åkermarken har gått från mindre naturanpassade fält till större rektangulära sammanhängande ytor. I och med detta bör andelen och mängden kantzoner minskat. Kantzonerna är på många sätt en viktig faktor i landskapet för fältviltet. Studien undersöker också om predatorer som rödräv och grävling har någon påverkan på arterna som nämns ovan. Denna undersökning tyder på att rapphönan har påverkats mer av landskapsförändringar än av predation från räv och grävling. Fältharen tycks å andra sidan ha blivit påverkad av predation från räv. Möjligtvis har tillgången på fälthare varit bättre och de kan därför ha blivit ett relativt enkelt byte för räven. Den minskande andelen kantzoner kan vara en av faktorerna till rapphönsstammens minskning. Minskar kantzonerna minskar också växtdelar och insekter som rapphönan livnär sig på. Kantzonerna är också ett bra skydd mot predatorer och rovfåglar för viltet som lever i det öppna jordbrukslandskapet. Om dessa arter ska finnas kvar i landskapet i framtiden bör mer fokus riktas på att förbättra deras livsmiljöer.

Free-roaming domestic cats are an increasing concern for biodiversity conservation. Cats prey on wildlife, spread disease and breed with native wildcat species leading to hybridisation. It is therefore useful to know what factors influence the movement of domestic cats. There is a particular concern in Scotland where hybridisation between domestic cats and the highly endangered Scottish wildcat is prevalent. This study placed GPS collars on ten domestic cats in and around a Scottish wildcat priority area. The home ranges and core areas for each cat were calculated and various explanatory variables were tested. There was a large variation in cat home ranges, from 0.22 – 17.5 hectares. Trends were observed that males roamed further than females, older cats roamed less than younger cats, rural cats roamed further than urban cats and cats roamed further at night than during the day. There was no definitive evidence of habitat selection, though three cats appeared to prefer arable land over coniferous forest. Weather conditions of temperature and rainfall did not have an impact on cat movement. However, snow cover did reduce the home range by 94.5%, although snow was only present when one cat was collared. The results suggest restricting cat ownership or imposing a night time curfew in ecologically sensitive areas, with a minimum buffer zone of 300 m, could be beneficial to reduce the negative impact of domestic cats.

Incidental catch (bycatch) in fisheries is one of the major threats to marine mammal populations worldwide. The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena, Linneaus 1758) is one of the most common cetaceans in northern Europe. Previous studies have reported high bycatch numbers of harbour porpoises in gillnet fishing operations in the North Sea and Skagerrak Sea. With the aim of disentangling the driving factors behind bycatch of harbour porpoises, I looked at the relationship between occurrence of harbour porpoise bycatch and properties of fishery and porpoise density. Parameters of fishing effort, gear characteristics and operations of 951 sets of strings of cod and pollack bottom set gillnets were collected by an on-board observer programme in the Swedish Skagerrak and Kattegat Seas during 1995-1997. Porpoise density data was generated from satellite tracking locations of 116 individuals from 1997 to 2016. Generalised linear models with binomial distribution were applied to identify the relationships between the occurrence of porpoise bycatch and seven explanatory variables extracted as soak time, string length, net height, mesh size, net bagginess, water depth and porpoise density. During the observer programme, a total of 21 porpoises were bycaught during 10,174 km*h of observed fishing effort. The total bycatch was estimated to be 2.6% of the population abundance at that time, i.e. above the maximum sustainable total anthropogenic removal (1.7%). Soak time, string length and water depth were identified to be positively related to bycatch occurrence. The findings provide guidance for bycatch mitigation measures in terms of adjusting fishing operations, improving gear and establishing separate management units. Modelling can be used to predict possible spatio-temporal high-risk hot spots for harbour porpoise as well as other marine-living species to optimise future monitoring efforts.

More conservation programs directed towards insects are needed in order to prevent the continue decline in which many insect species in the world are heading to. New ways to use the remaining microhabitats are needed to mitigate the fragmentation and degradation that urbanization and modern agriculture have contributed to in the southern Swedish landscapes. This study focusses on how microhabitats like road-verges can help the conservation projects of pollinating insects. To increase the knowledge about three groups of pollinators (Apidae, Rhopalocera and Syrphidae) and their distribution between two different microhabitats, a malaise trap was set up in road verges and in sample locations further away from the road-verges. The result from this study shows that road-verges are a microhabitat that could work as mitigation to the decline of some pollinating species, if right actions are taken. This study shows that Syrphidae was most acceptant to the hostile environment close to the roads. If these actions are going to help the most treated species is still unknown.

Many populations of burbot (Lota lota)around the world have been extirpated, are endangered or are in serious decline both regarding numbers but also in size. The aim of this study was to investigate if growth and overall condition in populations of anadromous burbot in the Gulf of Bothnia has changed over time and if so, discuss potential causes behind. This was done by comparing size at age and individual level condition indices of the two populations of anadromous burbot in Sävarån and Rickleån to previous studies from the same rivers. The results showed thatgrowth of young burbot has increased between the time period 2001-2014 to 2019in Sävarånand also a change towards a higher frequency of young individuals and a lack of older ones. Furthermore, an increase over time in condition was observed in Sävarån. In Rickleån the growth at the age of 3 had increased from both 1969-1971 and 2001-2014 to 2019. At the age of 4 to 9 a decrease in growth was shown from the time period 1969-1971 to 2001-2014 in Rickleån. A shift towards warmer water temperatures due to climate change might be an explanation in the observed change in both growth and condition in the population of burbots in Sävarån and Rickleån. Furthermore, the observed change in age frequency in Sävarån could also be a result of an increase in water temperature but could also be an effect of restoration and the control of pH in Sävarån.

<p>Industrial and domestic sewage effluents have been found to cause reproductive disorders in wild fish, often as a result of the interference of compounds in the effluents with the endocrine system. This thesis describes laboratory-based exposure experiments and a field survey that were conducted with juveniles of the three-spined stickleback, <i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>. This small teleost is a common fish in Swedish coastal waters and was chosen as an alternative to non-native test species commonly used in endocrine disruption studies, which allows the comparison of field data with results from laboratory experiments.</p><p>The aim of this thesis was to elucidate 1) if genetic sex determination and differentiation can be disturbed by natural and synthetic steroid hormones and 2) whether this provides an endpoint for the detection of endocrine disruption, 3) to evaluate the applicability of specific estrogen- and androgen-inducible marker proteins in juvenile three-spined sticklebacks, 4) to investigate whether estrogenic and/or androgenic endocrine disrupting activity can be detected in effluents from Swedish pulp mills and domestic sewage treatment plants and 5) whether such activity can be detected in coastal waters receiving these effluents.</p><p>Laboratory exposure experiments found juvenile three-spined sticklebacks to be sensitive to water-borne estrogenic and androgenic steroid substances. Intersex – the co-occurrence of ovarian and testicular tissue in gonads – was induced by 17β-estradiol (E2), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), 17α-methyltestosterone (MT) and 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The first two weeks after hatching was the phase of highest sensitivity. MT was ambivalent by simultaneously eliciting masculinizing and feminizing effects. When applying a DNA-based method for genetic sex identification, it was found that application of MT only during the first two weeks after hatching caused total and apparently irreversible development of testis in genetic females. E2 caused gonad type reversal from male to female. E2 and EE2 induced vitellogenin - the estrogen-responsive yolk precursor protein, while DHT and MT induced spiggin – the androgen-responsive glue protein of the stickleback.</p><p>None of the effluents from two pulp mills and two domestic sewage treatment plants had any estrogenic or androgenic activity. Juvenile three-spined sticklebacks were collected during four subsequent summers at the Swedish Baltic Sea coast in recipients of effluents from pulp mills and a domestic sewage treatment plant as well as remote reference sites. No sings of endocrine disruption were observed at any site, when studying gonad development or marker proteins, except for a deviation of sex ratios at a reference site.</p><p>The three-spined stickleback – with focus on the juvenile stage – was found to be a sensitive species suitable for the study of estrogenic and androgenic endocrine disruption.</p>

<p>The focus of this thesis is the early detection of stress in the environment. It has been proposed that studies on the cellular level would detect stress reactions earlier in time compared to common physiological methods. In a series of experiments we investigated how different stress factors, both natural and introduced by man, affect levels of stress proteins. One- and two-dimensional gels were used to determine individual proteins and families of proteins. The two-dimensional gels were also used in a proteomic approach, were the presence and absence of proteins after treatment was observed, and the protein expression signatures (PES) were identified. </p><p>Baltic <i>Mytilus edulis</i> was used in all experiments and it is evident that earlier observed differences in physiological rates and pollution sensitivity, compared to marine mussels, is also manifested as lower concentrations of stress proteins after exposure to copper and cadmium. When the Baltic mussels were allowed to acclimate for one month the difference decreased, suggesting an environmentally induced difference (paper I). Pre-exposure to heat before exposure to either a second heat-shock or cadmium was found to enhance the levels of HSP70 and thus tolerance, significantly (paper II). Exposure to a mixture of stress factors (PCB, copper and lowered salinity) revealed synergistic, additive and antagonistic effects in induction of 6 different stress proteins. When analyzing a large number of proteins it was shown that it is possible to identify PES with this technique, and we hypothesize that it could be possible to separate responses to mixtures of stress factors (Papers III and IV). Different techniques were also applied to analyze the protein expression pattern when mussels were exposed to PAH- and PCB-fractions extracted from Baltic Sea sediments. In this experiment the protein assays were accompanied by physiological measurements. All methods indicated stressed conditions, but the variation between individual mussels within treatments was smaller in terms of protein response than for physiological parameters (paper V). It is concluded that measuring the induction of stress proteins is a reliable way to detect stressful conditions. Proteins visualized on a one dimensional gel give a “gross” picture of an organism’s condition. The major challenge is to identify the origin and severity of the elucidated stress response. Further mapping of two-dimensional gels suggested that protein patterns are specific to type and level of stress. </p><p>A most important future step is to establish links between sub-cellular protein response to well known physiological effects. This should include long term experiments where altered protein expression signatures are linked to life history characteristics like survival, growth and reproductive success.</p>

<p>In the green-veined white butterfly (<i>Pieris napi</i>), females obtain direct fitness benefits from mating multiply and studies have shown that fitness increases seemingly monotonically with number of matings. The reason is that at mating males transfer a large nutritious gift (a so called nuptial gift) to the females that the females use to increase both their fecundity and lifespan. In addition, if exposed to poor food conditions as larvae, females mature at a smaller size compared to males. Accordingly, it was suggested that smaller females could compensate for their size through nuptial feeding by, for instance, mating more frequently. We did not find any support for that hypothesis. On the contrary, larger females remated sooner and had a higher lifetime number of matings. Neither were smaller females able to compensate in any other way, because singly mated females and multiply mated females suffered to the same extent from their smaller size. This thesis also shows that despite the positive relationship between fitness and number of matings, there is a large variation in female mating frequency in wild populations and about every second female mates only once or twice. This variation is not dependent on how often females get courted by males, because female mating frequency was shown not to be affected by male courtship intensity. Hence, the reason for the low mating frequency could either be that males have evolved the ability to manipulate females to mate at a suboptimal rate as a measure of protection against sperm competition, or alternatively, that female mating rate is suppressed by some costs. Using two selection lines, artificially selected for either a high or a low mating rate, we showed that the variation in mating rate was mainly a female trait because which line the females were from affected their mating rate whereas which line the male was from did not. This implies that females mate at a low rate due to hidden costs or due to constraints. The same study also showed that females with a high "intrinsic" mating rate lived shorter, but only when denied remating. This led us to test the hypothesis that the cost females face is to have the ability to mate at a high rate but the cost is only paid when remating opportunities are scarce. However, we found no support for such an idea, because females with a high intrinsic mating rate held in a cold environment where the butterflies were prevented from flying and feeding did not live shorter. Neither was there an effect of a female’s mating rate on her ability to quickly break down and convert male nutrient gifts into egg material. Female mating rate did, on the other hand, affect dispersal tendency, with low mating rate females being more inclined to fly between different habitats. The underlying reason for this is still to be explored.</p>

<p>Huvudsyftet med studien var att se i vilken grad det går att finna samarbeten genom material- och/eller energiutbyten mellan närliggande anläggningar inom skogsindustrin i Sverige. Genom att göra en inventering av vilka anläggningar som finns inom skogsindustrin och sedan kontakta dessa, sammanställdes en lista över de olika anläggningarna och deras olika samarbeten. Inventeringen gjordes med hjälp av olika branschorganisationer samt sökmotorer på Internet. Utöver detta besöktes också fyra intressanta fall för att ge en inblick i hur dessa samarbeten kan se ut.</p><p>Studien visar på att den här typen av samarbeten existerar inom skogsindustrin och att drygt en tredjedel av de studerade anläggningarna har någon form av samarbeten rörande dessa frågor. Detta pekar på att man inom skogsindustrin är långt framme när det gäller resursutnyttjande och att möjligheten att minimera sin energi- och materialanvändning hela tiden är en relevant fråga.</p><p>Det finns med stor sannolikhet ännu fler sådana samarbeten som inte framkommit vid undersökningen och en intressant aspekt är att vid de besök som gjordes upptäcktes samarbeten som inte uppmärksammats vid tidigare kontakter. Av de 152 tillfrågade anläggningarna i inventeringen erhölls svar från 117 stycken vilket tyder på att det finns ett stort intresse för dessa frågor inom skogsindustrin. Flera av de anläggningar som inte hade några samarbeten kring dessa frågor svarade också att de hela tiden undersöker möjligheten till att inleda sådana.</p><p>Många av samarbetena rörande dessa frågor kretsar kring leveranser av el och ånga samt spån och flis men en del andra intressanta samarbeten har också framkommit. Exempelvis används slam från bioreningsdammar till bränsle, jordförbättringsmedel och som täckmaterial vid deponier.</p><p>Sammanfattningsvis tyder detta på att skogsindustrin ligger långt framme gällande dessa frågor men att det fortfarande finns mer att göra om energi- och materialanvändningen och därigenom den negativa miljöpåverkan ska minimeras.</p> / <p>The aim and objective with this study was to investigate to what extent co-operation through material and energy exchange between adjacent industries among the forest industry in Sweden could be found. First, an inventory of the industries in the forest industry was conducted. Secondly, each company was contacted with questions concerning this issue. Complementary field studies of four specific cases were conducted in order to give an insight to how these co-operations may function in reality.</p><p>The result of this study illustrates that co-operations among the industries exist in the forest industry sector as more than a third of the investigated industries has some kind of co-operation regarding material and energy exchange with adjacent industries.</p><p>A total number of 152 industries were identified during the inventory phase and 117 of those industries participated in the study with their own answers. This high participation rate enhances the impression that these are important questions to the forest industry sector. Numerous of the co-operations mentioned revolve around electricity, steam, and by products from sawmills, like woodchips and sawdust. Nevertheless, a few other interesting co-operations have also been revealed during the study, for example; sludge from some of the pulp mills are used as fuel, soil fertilizer and as covering material at landfills.</p><p>An interesting point is that co-operations, which not were discovered during the earlier correspondence with the industries, in fact were revealed during the field studies. Therefore, the probability that there are more existing co-operations between adjacent industries than the findings in the study reveals, are high.</p><p>To sum up, this shows that the forest industry is well in advance regarding co-operation through material and energy exchange between adjacent industries. However, there is still a lot to be done if the negative effect on the environment from the forest industry should be minimised.</p>