This paper examines the power producing dams along the Ume-river as an integral part of and a result from the urbanization process in Sweden during industrial capitalism. The aim of the paper is to contribute to the knowledge of the urbanization process in Sweden in general and of its traces along the Ume river in the county of Västerbotten in particular. The paper applies the theory of concentrated urbanization and extended urbanization put forward by Neil Brenner and Christian Schmid (2015) and argues that the building of power producing dams along the Ume-river is part of an extended urbanization process. This becomes particularly evident when examining the vast physical structures that is the dams, situated in an otherwise remote and sparsely populated area. These vast physical structures are also very well connected to a nation wide electric grid that has connections to bordering countries as well. Due to neo-liberal developments in Sweden the former state governed electrical market is now deregularized and exposed to corporate competition and capitalist speculation. This paper mainly contributes to the understanding of the urbanization process as a process not only taking place in large urban agglomerations but also affects and shapes by remote areas in physical, social and economic terms.

Thesis (doctoral)--Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2007. / Includes an appendix of three papers and manuscripts, one co-authored with Per-Olov Johansson and Bengt Kriström. A second appendix reprints questionnaire used to elicit data for the three papers. Also issued electronically via World Wide Web in PDF format; online version lacks appendix.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Umeå, 1985. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 280-285).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Umeå, 1985. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 280-285).

The riparian zone is a changeable and species-rich habitat with important ecological functions that have long been affected by human activities such as hydropower and forestry. Rivers and their adjacent riparian zones also constitute a transport route for plant parts and seeds in a form of passive transport, called hydrochory, which can contribute to the establishment of plants or the preservation of diversity in the riparian zone. Theories such as "the river collector hypothesis" state that the diversity of plants increases with distance from the source of a river and this study aims to investigate a specific part of this theory, namely the effect of tributaries on the accumulation of plants in the riparian zone. Plant surveys have been carried out upstream and downstream of the outlets of several tributaries to Vindelälven (unregulated) and Umeälven (regulated) in Västerbotten County, Sweden, to compare these locations with each other. Species numbers and effective species numbers for upstream and downstream surveys were analysed using paired t-tests with the expectation that both species numbers and effective species numbers would be higher downstream of tributaries than upstream. The results showed no significant differences between the upstream and downstream inventories. When examining the data, there was an indication of a trend of higher species numbers and effective species numbers downstream of tributaries in the Umeälven, but further research is needed to investigate possible connections. The explanation of the effect of tributaries on the diversity of plants in the riparian zone may be more complicated than can be explained only by theories of the accumulation of plants from hydrochory. Alternatively, the effect from the tributaries is small in relation to the longitudinal build-up of plants that occurs in longer free-flowing stretches of the rivers, which may hide the effect of the tributaries. / Strandzonen är ett föränderligt och artrikt habitat med viktiga ekologiska funktioner som under lång tid har påverkats av mänskliga verksamheter som vattenkraft och skogsbruk. Älvar och dess angränsande strandzoner utgör även en transportsträcka för växtdelar och fröer i en form av passiv transport, benämnd hydrochori, som kan bidra till etableringen av växter eller bevarandet av mångfalden i strandzonen. Teorier som ”the river collector hypothesis” säger att mångfalden av växter ökar med avstånd från källan i en älv och den här studien har som mål att undersöka en specifik del av denna teori, nämligen vilken effekt biflöden har på ansamlingen av växter i strandzonen. Växtinventeringar har genomförts uppströms och nedströms om flera biflödens utlopp till Vindelälven (oreglerad) och Umeälven (reglerad) i Västerbottens län för att jämföra dessa lokaler med varandra. Artantal och effektivt artantal för uppströms- och nedströmsinventeringar analyserades med parade t-tester med förväntningen att både artantalet och det effektiva artantalet skulle vara större nedströms om biflöden än uppströms. Resultaten visade inga signifikanta skillnader mellan uppströms- och nedströmsinventeringarna. Vid granskning av data fanns en antydan till en trend med större artantal och effektivt artantal nedströms om biflöden i Umeälven men ytterligare undersökningar behövs för att utreda eventuella samband. Förklaringen till vilken effekt biflöden har på mångfalden av växter i strandzonen kan vara mer komplicerad än att det på egen hand kan förklaras med teorier om ansamling av växter från hydrochori. Alternativt är effekten från biflödena liten i relation till den longitudinella uppbyggnaden av växter som sker i längre fritt flödande sträckor av älvarna vilket skulle kunna dölja biflödenas effekt.