<p>The paper, with a brief summary of timber floating in Sweden and also of some previous re-search in this field, contains a study on costs for timber-floating in the river Dalälven located in central Sweden. The public used timber-floating system in Dalälven and the historical background about this activity is described. The study is focused on the total costs for timber-floating in the public open floating system in Dalälven from 1900 to 1970, the year before the timber-floating was definitively closed down. Also the costs for separating the logs of a specific owner when they reached the point where they could be separated from the timber of other owners are analyzed.</p>

The paper, with a brief summary of timber floating in Sweden and also of some previous re-search in this field, contains a study on costs for timber-floating in the river Dalälven located in central Sweden. The public used timber-floating system in Dalälven and the historical background about this activity is described. The study is focused on the total costs for timber-floating in the public open floating system in Dalälven from 1900 to 1970, the year before the timber-floating was definitively closed down. Also the costs for separating the logs of a specific owner when they reached the point where they could be separated from the timber of other owners are analyzed.

Ecological restoration is the practice of assisting the recovery of a degraded, damaged or destroyed ecosystem. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of two different restoration techniques on instream bryophyte abundance, species richness and diversity as well as community composition, in streams channelized for timber-floating. Instream bryophytes were collected from 10 tributaries of the Vindel River in boreal northern Sweden, from five stream reaches each of channelized reaches, which had not been restored; reaches restored in the early 2000s, using best-practice techniques; and reaches restored in the early 2000s and then re-restored in 2010 using the new “demonstration” techniques. A multitude of environmental variables were also measured at the sites. Bryophyte abundance was lower in demonstration restored sites than unrestored or best-practice restored sites but no significant difference was found in bryophyte species richness, diversity or species composition. Environmental variables correlated with bryophyte abundance, species richness, diversity and composition largely reflected effects of restoration, and probably the disturbance associated with restoration. Small sediment grain sizes also had a negative effect on species richness. Other environmental variables that influenced bryophyte species composition were the large-scale factors of latitude, longitude and elevation and reach-scale factors of potassium concentration and light absorbance. It is not yet possible to fully evaluate the effectiveness, in terms of bryophyte response, of the new demonstration restoration compared with best-practice since the recovery time between them differs and has not been sufficient. Long-term monitoring of the effects of restoration is needed in order to better evaluate success.

<p>I have done a follow up study of the restoration of two rivers, Röälven and Grundan, in order to evaluate the effects of the restoration on the endemic population of trout. Both rivers have been used for timber floating during many years throughout the 20^th century, and because of this, had all obstacles such as rocks and wood parts removed. In 2004-2005 both rivers were restored, and rocks and wood were put back into the rivers. Spawning grounds were created and boulder dams were constructed to promote the streaming water. The result showed that the trout population of both rivers increased after the restoration, but also that the trout population of Röälven increased more than that of Grundan. My conclusion is that the way the restoration is of a river contributes to the result.</p>

Riparian ecosystems are of great importance in the landscape, connecting landscape elements longitudinally and laterally and often encompassing sharp environmental gradients in ecological processes and communities. They are influenced by fluvial disturbances such as flooding, erosion and sediment deposition, which create dynamic and spatially heterogeneous habitats that support a high diversity of species. Riverine ecosystems belong among the world’s most threatened systems. In rivers throughout the world, human alterations to fluvial disturbance regimes have resulted in degraded ecosystems and species loss. For example, in Sweden, watercourses of all sizes have been channelized to facilitate timber floating, but in the last 10–20 years the impacts in some of the affected rivers have been reduced by restoration actions. The objectives of this thesis are to evaluate how riverine ecosystems in general, with specific focus on riparian communities, are affected by (1) restoration of channelized reaches by boulder replacement, (2) ice formation, and (3) restoration of in-stream wood abundance in the stream channel. Objective (1) was assessed by quantifying the retention of plant propagules in channelized and restored stream reaches and by evaluating effects on riparian plant and bryophyte communities in disconnected and re-opened side channels. Retention of plant propagule mimics was highest at low flows and in sites where boulders and large wood had been replaced into the channel. Propagules are however unlikely to establish unless they can be further dispersed during subsequent spring high flows to higher riparian elevations suitable for establishment. Thus, immigration to new suitable sites may occur stepwise. Our study demonstrates that restoration of channel complexity through replacement of boulders and wood can enhance retention of plant propagules, but also highlights the importance of understanding how restoration effects vary with flow. We detected no differences in riparian diversity between re-opened and disconnected side channels, but we did observe significant differences in species composition of both vascular plant and bryophyte communities. Disconnected sites had more floodplain species, whereas restored sites had more species characteristic of upland forest. This suggests that the reopening of side channels resulted in increased water levels, resulting in new riparian zones developing in former upland areas, but that the characteristic floodplain communities have not had time to develop in response to the restored fluvial regime. Objective (2) was approached by evaluating the effect of both natural anchor ice formation and experimentally created ice in the riparian zone. Riparian plant species richness and evenness proved to be higher in plots affected by anchor ice. Plants with their over-wintering organs above the ice sheet suffered from the treatment but the overall species richness increased in ice-treated plots. Objective (3) was evaluated by studying wood recruitment and movement, channel hydraulics, propagule retention and fish abundance in streams restored with large wood. Only one stream experienced reduced velocities after large wood addition. The large size and reduced velocity were probably also the reasons why this stream proved to be the best one in trapping natural, drifting wood. Increased retention and decreased mechanical fragmentation in large wood sites will lead to decreased loss of detritus from the site and therefore higher availability of coarse particulate organic matter which can result in more species rich shredder communities. Our study did not show that the occurrence of large wood had an important role in controlling density or biomass of brown trout.

I have done a follow up study of the restoration of two rivers, Röälven and Grundan, in order to evaluate the effects of the restoration on the endemic population of trout. Both rivers have been used for timber floating during many years throughout the 20th century, and because of this, had all obstacles such as rocks and wood parts removed. In 2004-2005 both rivers were restored, and rocks and wood were put back into the rivers. Spawning grounds were created and boulder dams were constructed to promote the streaming water. The result showed that the trout population of both rivers increased after the restoration, but also that the trout population of Röälven increased more than that of Grundan. My conclusion is that the way the restoration is of a river contributes to the result.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2007. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

The aim of this thesis has been to study and analyse in detail the process by which timber floating in tributaries was phased out. The region covered is that of the Ume and Vindel rivers and the period studied is 1945-70. The years I945-60 have been the most central to the analysis. The approach taken was to study timber floating itself rather than the new transport alternative (lorries) which developed during the post-war period. This brought the increasing costs of timber floating in tributaries into the forefront of the investigation, along with the efforts made to restrain these by means of investment in and partial closure of the floatway network. The consequences in terms of changed labour demand are also discussed. An important part of the analysis has been to examine the inherent weaknesses of timber floating in tributaries and the internal driving forces underlying its phasing-out. The term "internal driving forces" connotes those forces which affected timber floating as a means of transport by causing its costs to rise. In other words it has not been a matter of looking at the direct competition from lorry transport and the advantages of the new transport technique but rather of identifying the drawbacks of floating, when, where and how they arose, and how they helped to make it relatively dearer, thus motivating the changeover to lorry transport. The internal driving forces were forest structure and labour costs. When labour costs incurred in timber floating in tributaries were rising rapidly and the dimensions of the logs became smaller in size, floating became a dearer transport solution than before. As regards changes in forest structure, the dimensions of logs were diminishing throughout the floating epoch. This meant that the risk of sinking during floating increased. The effect of this was that the need to bark the timber was increasing all the time, which in turn entailed an indirect transport cost for floating. In addition to this, smaller log dimensions affected the labour time and cost of floating. The changed labour conditions along with the changed forest structure showed the importance of studying structural change in the Norrland forest region. For during the later 1940s and early 1950s a shortage of labour presented itself, and the cause was to be found in the new job opportunities which were emerging, some in the rural areas, for example in the construction of hydro-electric powerplants, and some in the larger populated localities, and these factors taken together made recruitment for jobs in forestry and timber floating more difficult. One of the chief characteristics of the way events were moving was that recruitment shifted away from having mainly targeted the agrarian lower class of smallholders, crofters and leaseholders so that it now focused increasingly on freehold farmers while at the same time the recruitment base, having previously consisted of younger workers, was now composed mainly of older people. Also in this study, various factors have been examined which could conceivably explain the changes in productivity of timber floating in tributaries. The results show, for example, that during the 1950s a partial phasing-out had very small direct effects on productivity in the area studied. Thus the combination of investment and changes in the quantity of timber is the factor which best explains the differences between different tributaries in the trend of productivity. A tributary´s greater capacity to float timber did not necessarily signify a bigger labour requirement since to a certain extent the watercourse itself “did the job”. As regards investment, clearance operations using caterpillar tractors were probably very important. It is true that the genuine dependence of log driving in tributaries on nature influenced conditions varied strongly from year to year, but since the link between investment costs and the trend of productivity is significant, it still seems reasonable to draw the conclusion that investment lent impetus to the rise in productivity during the 1950s. / digitalisering@umu

The aim of the thesis is to show the changes and the development of the landscape and the settlement of the region of central Šumava mountains due to industrialization in the 19th century. The thesis is based theoretically and methodologically in the field of anthropology of landscape and industrial archeology. It combines archive written and cartographic sources with non-destructive field research of anthropogenic relics. The industrialization of the area of interest meant the woodworking expansion that was caused by the lack of firewood in Prague and its surroundings and was realized as a business plan by the noble Schwarzenberg family. Schwarzenberg forest exploatation and timber floating system for firewood transport have brought significant landscape changes to hitherto almost untouched mountaneous forested areas. The field research has identified elements of the floating timber system, such as water reservoirs, watercourse troughs or the Vchynicko-Tetovský floating canal, as well as traces of both, permanent and seasonal settlement of woodcutters. The work divides the area into four zones, depending on how they were used, settled and transformed during the 19th century. The greatest attention is devoted to zone no. I, the remote forest area, which has become a major resource area for the Schwarzenberg...

The aim of the thesis is to show the changes and the development of the landscape and the settlement of the region of central Šumava mountains due to industrialization in the 19th century. The thesis is based theoretically and methodologically in the field of anthropology of landscape and industrial archeology. It combines archive written and cartographic sources with non-destructive field research of anthropogenic relics. The industrialization of the area of interest meant the woodworking expansion that was caused by the lack of firewood in Prague and its surroundings and was realized as a business plan by the noble Schwarzenberg family. Schwarzenberg forest exploatation and timber floating system for firewood transport have brought significant landscape changes to hitherto almost untouched mountaneous forested areas. The field research has identified elements of the floating timber system, such as water reservoirs, watercourse troughs or the Vchynicko-Tetovský floating canal, as well as traces of both, permanent and seasonal settlement of woodcutters. The work divides the area into four zones, depending on how they were used, settled and transformed during the 19th century. The greatest attention is devoted to zone no. I, the remote forest area, which has become a major resource area for the Schwarzenberg...