Males and females differ in morphology and behaviour, so that selection acts differently on the two sexes. This changes the relative reproductive success of males and females, and it is beneficial for parents to bias the sex ratio of their broods in favour of the sex with the best survival and breeding prospects. Differences between the sexes and brood sex ratio in Tengmalm’s owl (Aegolius funereus) in northern Sweden were investigated, using a molecular sexing technique based on PCRamplification of sex-linked CHD1 genes. Among owls caught during autumn migration, females were commoner than males, especially within juveniles. However, in contrast to earlier studies, it was shown that adult males sometimes undertake migratory movements indicatory of nomadism. Measurements of these owls revealed that sexual size dimorphism in Tengmalm’s owl is not as great as previously reported from studies carried out during the breeding season. Females were slightly larger (4% by mass) than males, probably owing to the different roles of males and females during breeding, when this dimorphism is greater. The size difference between male and female nestlings was found to be similar to that for adults in autumn, and to investigate whether this led to differential mortality, the effect of supplementary feeding on mortality of male and female nestlings was studied. Supplementary feeding reduced male mortality when vole abundance was low, and it was concluded that larger female nestlings out-competed their smaller brothers, who then suffered increased mortality when food was scarce. Recruitment of male nestlings into the breeding population declined with decreasing food supply at the time of fledging, a pattern not observed in females. Juvenile males were therefore more vulnerable to food shortage than females, both in the nest and after fledging. Mean brood sex ratio varied significantly among years characterized by different phases of the vole cycle and associated vole abundance. Broods were male-biased (63% males) in a year when the food supply was favourable during spring and summer, neutral (50%) in a year with an intermediate food supply, and female-biased (35% males) in a year when food was in short supply. Parents appeared to adaptively adjust the sex ratio of their broods according to the relative mortality risk and reproductive potential of sons and daughters.

In this thesis the Weichselian history of northern Sweden is investigated, with emphasis on vegetation and climate during ice-free intervals. The main method used has been pollen analysis of sediments from pre-Late Weichselian landforms. To interpret fossil pollen assemblages, comparisons with modern pollen spectra were made. Modern pollen data were retrieved through monitoring of annual pollen deposition at seven sites in northern Sweden, from the boreal forest to above the present forest-line of birch. Eight years of pollen monitoring is described and put in a larger context through comparison with monitoring data from Iceland, Svalbard, Norway and Finland. A study of sediment cores from the Riipiharju esker shows evidence of two ice free phases during the Weichselian glacial; Tärendö I and Tärendö II. The Tärendö II ice free interval includes large climatic shifts, previously not recognized, from relatively warm conditions with Betula as the dominating pollen taxon to cold conditions with dominance of Artemisia and Gramineae and back to warmer conditions again. Correlation alternatives of the north Swedish ice free intervals Tärendö I and II are: 1/ Brörup (MIS 5c; c. 105-93 ka BP) and Odderade (MIS 5a; c. 85-74 ka BP), respectively, or 2/ Odderade and early Middle Weichselian time (MIS 3; c. 59-40 ka BP). Of these, alternative 2 is regarded as the most likely. Interstadial sediments deposited in a Veiki moraine plateau during downwasting of a pre-Late Weichselian ice sheet include only Betula dominant pollen spectra, showing that the climate during formation of the Veiki moraine was relatively warm. According to stratigraphical correlation there are three possible alternatives for Veiki moraine formation. Either it was formed during 1/ early Tärendö I, 2/ early Tärendö II, or 3/ late Tärendö II. Alternative 3 implies growth of an intermediate ice sheet reaching the eastern limit of Veiki moraine distribution during the cold phase of Tärendö II.

The aim of the thesis is to describe and analyse socio-economic changes in northern Sweden. Focus is on the period 1985-2000. Population development, restructuring of economic activities, political and cultural changes are related to a theoretical discussion on the transformation of sparsely populated areas as an outcome of multi-dimensional and interrelated processes. Besides an introductory and concluding section, the thesis contains four papers. The first paper deals with forestry's changed role in the local economy of four municipalities located in the inland areas of upper Norrland. The changes within forestry have been driven by adaptation to global competition and rapid technical development. Even though timber production has increased in some of the municipalities, job losses have greatly reduced the importance of forestry in the local economies. Many employees have left forestry for work in other branches, unemployment or retirement However, relatively few have moved from the area. A multiplier model was employed in order to analyse the impact on the local economy. The second paper deals with population changes in the six northernmost counties. During the 1990s, most municipalities and rural areas in northern Sweden have experienced renewed depopulation. At the same time, some rural areas have shown significant population growth. Three types of rural areas with population growth have been identified. Firstly, there are rural areas within daily commuting distance from regional centres. Secondly, there is a group of rural areas, mainly a number of mountain villages close to the border with Norway, which has benefited from the tourist industry. Finally, there are a few rural areas characterised by attractive residential environments and leisure housing. The third paper is based on a classification of 500 residential areas and villages in the county of Västerbotten into seven types of housing environments. In this way, the county is broken down into a mosaic of housing environments characterised by very different prerequisites for consumption and economic development A complex and dispersed pattern of disadvantaged residential areas all over the county indicates the difficulty in treating counties and municipalities as homogeneous regions. In the fourth paper, focus is on young peoples' attitudes towards staying in or moving to small communities within a local labour market region in northern Sweden. The study is based on telephone interviews with 400 young men and women in the Umeå region. Half the interviewees lived in the university city of Umeå while the others were residents in five rural municipalities surrounding Umeå. In general, the males and females aged 19-25 had a much more positive attitude towards living in rural communities than did those aged 15-18. Nevertheless, only half of the young people already living in the rural municipalities wanted to stay there. Among the young people living in the city, slightly less than 50% showed an interest in moving to the surrounding rural areas, mainly the countryside within commuting distance from the city. The connection between higher education and out-migration of young people from rural areas is also highlighted. / <p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., 2002</p> / digitalisering@umu

The aim of this study was to map and date glacial flutings with ice flows deviating from the predominating northwesterly ice flow direction in the southern part of Norrbotten County in northern Sweden, and also to investigate if parts of the glacial landscape are older than previously thought. The traditional view is that most landforms in the area were formed during the late Weichselian (W3). Analysis of the new high resolution elevation model (2 m grid) derived from laser scanning was performed after treating the data with a hillshade tool in ArcMap to reveal terrain features such as flutings. The analysis resulted in a map showing four main groups of deviating ice flows (N-S, NO-SV, SO-NV and S-N) and several westerly ice flows. The majority of flutings with deviating ice flows were found in low terrain. This, together with studies suggesting a cold based late Weichselian ice sheet in Norrbotten, implies an old age of the deviating ice flows. The deviating ice flows are interpreted to originate from the first early Weichselian (W1), or predate the onset of the Weichselian glaciation. Some NV-SO flutings were located in high terrain, which implies a younger age relative to the low terrain flutings. They represent the youngest ice flow found in the area, possibly from the second early Weichselian (W2). The new elevation model clearly offers new possibilities for studying small scale landforms and shows that the traditional view of the Weichselian glaciation in northern Swedish needs to be reconsidered.

The importance of the elk (Alces alces) in the Stone Age societies of northern Sweden constitutes the major focus of this thesis. The point of departure is a simple but crucial observation: this animal is the common denominator between the three stationary types of remains known in this region from the period 4000-1800 BC. Here, I refer to the pit falls, the rock art sites, and the mounds of burnt stone. Pit falls have been used for trapping elks, and can be found on the migration trails that have been used by these animals for thousands of years. On the rock art sites, the elk constitutes the most frequently depicted motif, and the mounds of burnt stones contain extremely large quantities of elk bones. If the elk had not held a central position in the life world of prehistoric people in the northern Swedish region of Norrland, these archaeological materials would certainly have had a different appearance. I claim that it is the significance of this animal that has led to, and shaped, the emergence of these material remains. In this study the overall importance of the elk is investigated. My main question is how the elk’s significance affected the prehistoric societies of Norrland. I found that the elk’s material remains led to a range of consequences. The pit falls, rock art sites and mounds of burnt stone tied the prehistoric people to certain areas in the landscape. However, at the same time, these remains required to be constantly in transformation to be usable. Pit falls, for example, have to be re-digged in order to at all function as traps for big game. The conceptual dichotomy between permanence and change can be traced in the ways in which the elk motif at the rock art site at Nämforsen was altered. The elk figures are depicted with either straight or angled legs. I interpret this variation as an indication of the fact that the elk motif functioned as a key symbol – a motif that is able to express a range of meanings when it becomes altered and varied. The emergence of depicting the opposition between mobility and permanence tells us that the Stone Age societies had problems uniting these two concepts. I interpret this as signifying that these hunter-gatherers became aware of the “Neolithic aspects” of their own social structure.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2010.

Climate change in the Arctic and sub-Arctic has induced substantial changes in the inland cryosphere. The warming climate is causing a reduction in glacier size and extent and the average net mass balance for Arctic glaciers have been negative over the past 40 years. Relatively few studies have been conducted concerning the development of the thermal distribution in glaciers during extensive volume changes. There is a possible diversity in how the thermal structure might change with a changing climate. Storglaciären is losing the cold surface layer in the ablation area and progressively becomes more temperate, while Kårsaglaciären is losing the zone of temperate ice in the ablation area and consequently becoming colder. The overall objective of this study has been to improve the understanding of the thermal response of polythermal glaciers to climate change. The results from Pårteglaciären, northern Sweden, indicate a decrease in volume by 18% in the last 15 years with an expected decrease of 35% of its present size during the coming century. As a consequence of the prevailing climate and volume decrease Pårteglaciären is experiencing a thinning of the cold surface layer at an average rate of 1.13 m a-1. The volumetric and cold surface layer changes are in the same magnitude, which may indicate that the CTS adapts relatively rapidly to the present changes. Assuming a climatic effect similar to what has been observed on Storglaciären, it can be concluded that the thinning has influenced the thermal regime. But in contrast to Kårsaglaciären, the thermal distribution on Pårteglaciären has become more temperate as a result of the substantial mass loss. / Klimatförändringar i Arktis och subarktis har orsakat stora förändringar i kryosfären. Ett varmare klimat orsakar en minskning av glaciärers storlek och omfattning och nettomassbalansen för Arktiska glaciärer har varit negativ under de senaste 40 åren. Relativt få studier har genomförts angående utvecklingen av den termiska fördelningen i glaciärer under omfattande volymförändringar. Det finns en möjlig diversitet i hur den termiska strukturen kan ändras med ett förändrat klimat. Storglaciären förlorar det kalla ytskiktet i ablationsområdet och blir successivt mer tempererad, medan Kårsaglaciären förlorar zonen med tempererad is i ablationsområdet och blir därmed kallare. Syftet med den här studien har varit att öka förståelsen för den termiska reaktionen hos polytermala glaciärer till ett förändrat klimat. Resultaten från Pårteglaciären i norra Sverige visar en volymreducering med 18% under de senaste 15 åren med en förväntad minskning på 35% av den nuvarande storleken under det kommande århundradet. Som en följd av det rådande klimatet och den reducerade volymen genomgår det kalla ytskiktet på Pårteglaciären en förtunning med en genomsnittlig hastighet av 1.13 m a-1. Volymförändringarna och förändringarna i kalla ytskiktet är i samma storleksordning, vilket tyder på att CTS anpassas relativt snabbt till de nuvarande förändringarna. Förutsatt en klimatisk effekt liknande den som observerats på Storglaciären, kan slutsatsen dras att förtunningen har påverkat den termiska regimen. Men i motsats till Kårsaglaciären har den termiska fördelningen på Pårteglaciären blivit mer tempererad som ett resultat av den omfattande massförlusten.

The objective of this bachelor thesis is on Åsele and Lycksele church towns and early settlements in northern Sweden with the purpose of finding out if the archaeological source material shows the same or different results as the historical source material regarding when they were established, what sort of buildings and activities they had and if the proximity to the Sami people had any effect on the settlers. This is done by doing a comparative analysis between Åsele and Lycksele church towns through the excavated source material from archaeological surveys and their related reports.

Engineers belong to a group of workers that will form a large and important part of the green transition in northern Sweden. At the same time there are many engineers with the right competence in the energy sector that remains missing. To resolve the future skills gap, this essay aims to find an understanding of engineers’ perspectives of the labor market and how to manage and attract the skills needed for a sustainable industrialization in northern Sweden. This essay used qualitative methods, more specifically semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis, to gather and analyse the collected data. The results of the essay indicate that engineers in the energy sector value development opportunities, flexibility, and the opportunity to achieve a work life balance highly. Thus, salary seems to not form a large part of the engineers most important preferences in their work life. This shows that regardless of what sector a company belongs to, they could focus on and promote motivational factors rather than monetary rewards.

This thesis is a study of factory owner Abraham Abrahamson Hülphers’s collections of parish description about the parishes in Norrland, more specifically those about Medelpad and Ångermanland. The thesis seeks to explain how Hülphers’s collections were created in practice while also presenting the descriptions content and analysing the ideology it reproduced. It does so by analysing Hülphers’s published descriptions, his travel journal and some of his correspondence. The thesis uses Mary Louise Pratts ideas about the imperial gaze as a theoretical framework to understand the work of Hülphers and the relation between the enlightened middle class and the peasantry which they described. The thesis investigates the idea of the parish descriptions understood as Hülphers travel journal reworked, arguing that Hülphers journey through Norrland was important for social reasons, rather than information gathering, and presenting the collections as new texts, not transformed versions of the journal. Furthermore the thesis discusses who helped Hülphers create the descriptions and the impact these men, from the same enlightened middle class as Hülphers himself, had on the text. The thesis also handles the economic ideology of the enlightenment as mirrored and reproduced by the descriptions. Here the focus lies on the priorities of the parishes different lines of work and the boundless optimism of enlightenment man – as nature could be conquered completely by man’s reason. Finally the thesis discusses the way Hülphers described the local culture; what he considered to be virtues and vices in the peasant population in terms of habits, language and dress, also showing the great value he considered the local dignitaries to have and discussing his disdain towards the superstitions of old as these could lead a community towards chaos.