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Clear-cut logging is the most widely practised forestry method in Sweden. This often conflicts with nature conservation and leads to issues where economic interests are pitted against ecological values. Bryophytes are a group of organisms commonly used as indicators of change in the environment, and several species of this group are also used as tools for assessing conservation values in the habitats they occur in. These are termed indicator or signal species, as they demand certain prerequisites regarding for example climate or substrate that are characteristic for the specific habitat type. In this thesis, the effects of clear-cut logging on five Red-Listed bryophyte species specialised in old-growth forests were tested, to see if they can survive such an intervention. This was done in ArcGIS, by overlaying layers containing 13 years of species observations from Artportalen.se and spatio-temporally matched clear-cut areas from the Swedish Forest Agency. There were 229 logged areas containing a total of 401 observations of the selected bryophyte species, of which 25 were found post-logging. Additionally, 64 % of the post-logged findings were located within a 10 m buffer strip along the edge of the logged areas. The results provide strong evidence that clear-cut logging does impact these species negatively. At the same time the data suggest that developing adequate mitigation measures, for example retention patches along the edges, and evaluating those already in use, can help these species to some extent, by mitigating the negative impact. This is the most important implication from this study, because forestry will continue to be a necessary contribution to the ongoing transition towards a fossil free society. Therefore, the practice needs to shift towards a more biodiversity-friendly management, where alternative forestry methods that are less destructive, are promoted and used to a wider extent. Furthermore, the weight of these species as indicators of high conservation value for the habitats they grow in requires special caution when planning for logging such areas. Otherwise, there is risk of losing species to regional extinction, with specialist species like the ones in this study being of greatest concern. Den vanligast förekommande skogsbruksmetoden i Sverige är idag trakthyggesbruket. Denna metod är inte alltid kompatibel med naturvårdsintressen och leder ofta till konflikter mellan ekonomiska och ekologiska värden. En organismgrupp som ofta används som indikatorer på förändringar i naturmiljön är mossor. Flertalet mossarter är dessutom så kallade signalarter, vilket betyder att de kan användas som ett mått på naturvärden i den biotop de förekommer i, då de har artspecifika krav på särskilda förutsättningar, som till exempel klimat och substrat. I den här studien testades därför hur slutavverkning påverkar fem Rödlistade mossarter strikt knutna till äldre kontinuitetsskogar. Syftet var att undersöka om de överhuvudtaget kan överleva ett sådant ingrepp. Detta utfördes genom att analysera rumsligt matchade geodatalager i ArcGIS, innehållande 13 års artobservationer från Artportalen.se samt utförda avverkningar från Skogsstyrelsen. Det fanns 229 avverkade områden med totalt 401 artobservationer, varav 25 var funna efter utförd avverkning. Av dessa 25 fynd var 64 % observerade inom en 10 m bred buffertzon utmed det avverkade områdets kant. Resultaten visar tydligt att slutavverkning påverkar dessa arter negativt, men pekar samtidigt på att utvecklingen av lämpliga metoder för naturvårdshänsyn (till exempel hänsynsytor längs med avverkningsområdenas kantzoner) och utvärdering av de metoder som redan används kan mildra problemet. Detta är därmed den viktigaste slutsatsen från denna studie, då skogsnäringen även fortsättningsvis kommer att vara ett viktigt bidrag till den pågående gröna omställningen och det är därför nödvändigt att främja även andra, mindre destruktiva, skogsbruksmetoder för att bibehålla och stärka ekologiska värden, som biodiversitet. Dessutom bör de här arternas värde som signalarter väga tungt vid planering av avverkning i dessa områden, då de ju visar att habitaten har höga naturvårdsvärden. Annars är det risk att vissa arter dör ut, i synnerhet sådana arter som är specialiserade på de miljöer som är mål för exploatering.

This thesis has set out to shine a light on the prevalence of outdoor recreation in regional strategies, regarding how friluftsliv can contribute to regional development and growth. In the context of the outdoor recreation goals, friluftsliv has been pushed to be involved within the regional development and spatial planning process in regions. However, the extent of measures to involve friluftsliv in RDS/P (Regional Development Strategy/Plan) from regional authorities are far in-between. The County Administrative Board (TCAB) on the other hand, are actively working within their regions on how to involve friluftsliv in the spatial planning process, partly because of difference in responsibility factors from the two authorities. The same can be said regarding the many similarities and differences found primarily in the work from TCABs. For example, how friluftsliv frequently is described to have a positive contribution on citizens well-being and quality of life, that in-turn positively impact aspects of regional development, while some discuss the implications of friluftsliv on the environment. Friluftsliv can work as a catalyst for regional development, although it can be argued to be geographically dependant for commercial activities, while its indirect social, economic, and environmental contributions are not geography dependant. One conclusion made in the thesis is that a more transcending planning process regionally to promote friluftsliv is needed, where both the regions and TCAB carry out the planning in unison with the SEPA (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) to spread the needed knowledge for the purpose of smart spatial planning between the authorities. Denna masteruppsats har syftat till att belysa förekomsten av friluftsliv i regionala strategier, relaterat till hur friluftsliv kan bidra till regional utveckling och tillväxt. Detta analyserades i samband med uppkomsten av friluftslivsmålen, där friluftsliv är syftat till att vara involverad i den regionala utvecklingen och den fysiska planeringsprocessen i regioner. Emellertid är omfattningen av åtgärder för att involvera friluftsliv i RUS/P (Regional Utvecklingsstrategi/Plan) från regionala myndigheter låga. Länsstyrelserna å andra sidan arbetar aktivt inom sina regioner för att involvera friluftsliv i den fysiska planeringsprocessen. Detta är på grund av den skillnaden i ansvarsområden över specifika faktorer mellan de två myndigheterna. Detsamma kan kopplas till de många likheter och skillnader som främst återfinns i Länsstyrelsernas arbete. Exempelvis hur friluftsliv ofta beskrivs bidra på ett positivt sätt för medborgarens välbefinnande och livskvalitet, som i sin tur positivt påverkar många aspekter av regional utveckling, medan vissa fokuserar på att diskutera konsekvenserna av friluftsliv på miljön. Friluftsliv kan fungera som en katalysator för regional utveckling, även om friluftslivets kommersiella verksamhetsmöjligheter kan påstås vara geografiskt beroende kan dock dess indirekta sociala, ekonomiska och miljömässiga bidrag för regional utveckling syftas till att vara geografiskt oberoende. En slutsats som gjorts i uppsatsen är att en mer övergripande planeringsprocess regionalt för att främja friluftsliv behövs, där både regionerna och Länsstyrelserna genomför planeringen i överensstämmelse med Naturvårdsverket för att sprida den nödvändiga kunskapen i syfte att engagera i aktiv diskussion för främjandet av smart rumslig planering mellan myndigheterna.

In today´s intensively managed landscape, very few forests with old-growth characteristics and little human impact exist. One of the rare exceptions is pine forests on rocky soils, a forest type which has probably escaped extensive human use because of its low productivity. Our objective was to investigate the structure, dynamics, and history as well as the abundance and richness of wood-inhabiting fungi in these types of forest. We chose rocky pine forests situated in the High Coast Region to exemplify this forest type since the regional County Administration had already made surveys of the conservation value in 26 rocky pine forest stands in this region. We investigated the forests by recording tree species and measuring tree size and age in eight of the stands that were ranked with the highest conservation value. We also sampled dead wood to examine time since death and we sampled living and dead trees with fire scars to date fires. In addition, we made an inventory of wood-inhabiting fruiting bodies and took woodchip samples from logs to learn (by DNA analysis) whether five rare wood inhabiting fungi species were present as mycelia in logs. We found that rocky pine forests in the High Coast Region have a multi-sizedand multi-aged structure and old pine trees (approximately 13 ha-1 older than 300 years) are present. Fire has been common (an average of 42 years betweenfires) but they were likely to have been low-intense and small. Although the amount of dead wood is relatively low (4.4 m3 ha-1 on average) compared to many other boreal forests with old-growth characteristics, the share of deadwood of the total tree basal area (18%) was in line with other pine forests with low levels of human impact. The low dead wood volume is therefore likely to be an effect of the low productivity rather than dead wood extraction by humans. We also discovered that dead wood can be present for a really longtime without totally decomposing; we found logs and snags that had been dead for 500 years. This continuity of dead wood might be important for organisms dependent on dead wood as a substrate and even though we found that the species richness of wood-inhabiting fungi was somewhat low, we did find some rare species. Cinereomyces lenis and Hyphodontia halonata were present as fruiting bodies and we also found Antrodia albobrunnea, Antrodiainfirma, Crustoderma corneum and Anomoporia kamtschatica present as myceliain logs. The second part of this thesis reports two systematic reviews studying the effects of active management on the biodiversity in boreal and temperate forests. A systematic review follows certain guidelines and aims to compile the evidence base in well-defined topics, so that managers, researchers and policymakers can gain access to a high-quality compilation of current research. In our systematic map, we found almost 800 relevant papers but the set of papers turned out to be too heterogenic (many intervention types, e.g. thinning, burning, grazing and many types of outcomes) to allow any quantitative analysis. However, this map identified knowledge gaps and several detailed research questions that had sufficient data to provide aquantitative statistical analysis. One of these questions was: What is the impact of dead wood creation or addition on dead wood-dependent species? We focused on three types of interventions: creation of dead wood, addition of dead wood from elsewhere and prescribed burning. The selected outcomes were: saproxylic insects (rareand pest species), saproxylic fungi (rare species), ground-living insects and cavity-nesting birds. There was no significant negative effect on any of the investigated species groups but a positive effect on the abundance and richness of saproxylic insects and fungi. We also found that, although the amount of dead wood created was much less (50%) with prescribed burning, the abundance and richness of saproxylic insects showed similar positive effects to those of other intervention methods. A likely explanation for this is that burning results in a diversity of dead wood of various levels of quality (e.g. dense and/or charred wood), which creates a heterogeneity of dead woodtypes having a positive effect on the diversity of species dependent on deadwood. In summary, active management generally has a positive effect on biodiversity but the choice of management type should always be made carefully, and in consideration of the effect you want to achieve. In addition, there is a need for more long-term primary studies and more species groups in more geographical areas need to be incorporated so that the systematic reviews in this field will be even more informative in the future. Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbeten opublicerade: delarbete 1 (manuskript), delarbete 2 (manuskript), delarbete 4 (inskickat).At the time of the doctoral defence the following papers were unpublished: paper 1 (manuscript), paper 2 (manuscript), paper 4 (submitted).

This PhD thesis in environmental science aims to contribute to the theoretical and empirical understanding of the relation between participation and legitimacy in multi-level environmental governance. It is widely assumed that actor involvement has great potential to improve the legitimacy of nature conservation through long-term acceptance and target achievement. However, local resource conflicts problematize the way a relation between participation and legitimacy is depicted on other administrative levels. Studies exploring the effect that participation has on legitimacy are relatively rare, especially in multi-level arrangements of coastal conservation. In this thesis the relation between participation and legitimacy on the local level is examined, as well as how this relation is conditioned by multi-level governance and power. The relation is empirical studied with two local implementation processes of the Helsinki Convention’s network of marine protected areas (HELCOM MPAs). The cases are located in Sweden. Sweden and the Baltic Sea region are in the forefront of participation in nature conservation, and therefore act as a strong case for the exploration of institutional participation. However, despite apparent political will and international support, the efficiency of actor involvement for nature conservation has been questioned, also for the HELCOM MPA and especially on the local level. Based on the results of this study, I question the assumption that weak legitimacy predominantly is an issue of insufficient information sharing. The findings show that involving actors to legitimize the adoption of strict adherence to a pre-established model of conservation likely fails to create long term support for conservation. Instead, relocation of power to the affected actors seems essential in order to make participation establish legitimacy. It appears important to create room for local influence in the design, management and implementation of a particular conservation area in the particular place/context. In both examined cases, there are elements of participation that support legitimacy, for example the development of a shared vision. There are also elements that hamper legitimacy, such as, for example, the high expectations different actors have on participation to reach consensus on protective values. These unmet expectations seem to fuel conflicts of interests among actors on different levels. Världens hav är i kris. Med ett stort internationellt tryck för att skydda dem har den svenska regeringen satt ambitiösa mål för etablering av marina reservat. Beslutsfattare och forskare har höga förväntningar på att lokalt deltagande underlättar etableringen. Men utan verkliga möjligheter för lokalt deltagande att påverka besluten så verkar förväntningarna orealistiska, med allvarliga konsekvenser för legitimitet av miljöskydd. Avhandlingen undersöker relationen mellan deltagande och legitimitet i svensk östersjöförvaltning genom att studera samrådsprocesserna för Gräsö marina naturreservat och St Anna-Missjö marina skyddsområde. Studien visar på både positiva och negativa samband mellan deltagande och legitimitet, beroende på kvalitén av deltagande. Olika lokala aktörer är djupt engagerade i resursfrågor och vill ha möjlighet att diskutera dessa med staten. Lokala aktörer uttrycker besvikelse och frustration om samråden har en begränsad inverkan på faktiska beslut. Besvikelsen kan underminera stödet för naturskydd och försämra relationen mellan stat och lokala aktörer i längden. I ett av de undersökta fallen var de lokala aktörerna engagerade i att formulera en gemensam vision för området tillsammans med myndigheterna, något som annars är ovanligt. Det visade sig ha en mycket positiv effekt på samrådsprocessen och legitimiteten av naturskyddet.

This thesis, an environmental history of a selected number of Swedish military training environments, is based on observation of military landscapes with a permanent presence of military-related objects and activities, all of which leave their traces in the environment, and how continued military activity is legitimised with environmental arguments. By also observing military policies and documents, I look into how the Swedish military frame their own training environments, and how ‘environmentalist’ discourses is adopted to justify past and present activities. The military landscapes must also be considered in a wider context of geopolitics and security; hence I also include an historical analysis of military land appropriation and defense policy in Sweden. An important contribution with this thesis, besides provide a Swedish context to studies of military landscapes, lies also in testing a historical ecological framework in analyses and methods when approaching research on military landscapes, as I consider this thesis as a pilot-project on Swedish military landscapes providing incentives for further studies. The Swedish military landscapes studied in this thesis have both a centennial and decadal presence of military activities. Some training sites such as Marma and Revinge, which are also Natura 2000 areas, have had a military presence since the 19th century, and the various military structures and buildings promote a kind of military biography, an identity tied to landscapes, reinforcing military presence. The presentation of military sites as ecological refuges for rare species and habitats is evident in the management plans for the studied landscapes. The way military space is understood, legitimised and produced from the perspectives of the military policy level is, as I will argue, centred on two core motivations. First, it is that military presence in a landscape is the product of a militarisation processes, considering a geopolitical context and defense policies. The military presence has long-term effects in form of an alteration of physical nature and development of a high biodiversity. Second, the long-term positive effects, enhances an environmentalist discourse within the military when it comes to legitimise past and present military space, and to justify a continued military presence in a landscape. Denna uppsats, en miljöhistoria av ett utvalt antal svenska militära övningsområden, är baserat på en observation av militära landskap med en permanent närvaro av militärrelaterade objekt och aktiviteter vilka lämnar sina spår i miljön, och hur fortsatt militär aktivitet legitimeras genom miljöargument. Jag analyserar militära riktlinjer och dokument, för att se på hur svensk militär förhåller sig till dess övningsområden, och hur diskurser om miljövård används för att motivera fortsatt militär aktivitet. De militära landskapen bör studeras i en större geopolitisk säkerhetskontext; därför inkluderar jag också en historisk studie av svensk försvarspolitik och militära markanskaffningar. En viktig insats med denna uppsats, förutom att bidra med en svensk kontext till militära landskapsstudier, är att testa ett historiskt-ekologiskt ramverk i analys och metod vid studier av militära landskap då jag anser att denna uppsats är ett pilot-projekt för militära landskapsstudier i Sverige och ger incitament till vidare forskning i ämnet. De svenska militära landskapen som studeras här har upp till en hundraårig närvaro av militär aktivitet. Vissa övnings- och skjutfält såsom Marma och Revingehed, vilka också är Natura 2000- områden, har haft militär aktivitet sedan slutet av 1800- talet, och de varierande militära ytorna och byggnaderna främjar en militär biografi, en identitet knuten till landskapet, vilken förstärker fortsatt militär närvaro. Presentationen av de militära fälten som ekologiska refuger av sällsynta arter och habitat är uppenbar i skötsel- och vårdplanerna av de studerade landskapen. Sättet som det militära landskapet förstås, legitimeras och produceras ur militärperspektiv i policy och dokument är, som jag kommer argumentera, koncentrerade kring två faktorer. För det första, militär närvaro i ett landskap är ett resultat av en militariseringsprocess baserat på en geopolitisk kontext och försvarsbeslut. Militär närvaro har en långsiktig effekt i form av en förändring av den fysiska naturen och utvecklingen av en biologisk mångfald. För det andra, de långsiktiga positiva effekterna underbygger en naturvårdsdiskurs inom militären när det kommer till att motivera dåtida och nuvarande militär landskapsanvändning, och för att rättfärdiga en fortsatt militär närvaro.

There is considerable geographical overlap between areas set aside for nature conservation or protection and Indigenous peoples’ lands, and the social, economic, and political consequences of protected areas have often been extensive for Indigenous peoples. Discourses of conservation converge with discourses of Indigenous peoples, and both carry a legacy of colonial constructs and relationships. With these overlaps as a point of departure, the purpose of this thesis is to explore how the discourses that govern nature conservation and protected areas shape the conditions for Indigenous peoples’ influence and participation in the governance and management of protected areas on their lands. I pursue this aim by analyzing, and critically examining the consequences of, the construction of Indigenous subject positions and conditions for agency in discourses of nature conservation and protected areas. The empirical focus of the thesis lies with international discourses of protected areas and Indigenous peoples and on local and national discourses articulated in relation to two cases of protected areas in Sápmi. My analytical framework builds on postcolonial theory and discourse theory. I use space for agency as a concept to describe and analyze the effects of the discursive positionings and constructions that shape the ability or capacity of individuals or group to act or to be perceived as legitimate actors. My results show twomain articulations of Indigenous subject positions in protected area discourses, which enable and restrain the space for Indigenous agency in different ways. One articulation connects Indigenous peoples to conservation through the concept of traditional knowledge, thereby positioning Indigenous subjects mainly as holders of traditional knowledge and justifying Indigenous influence by its potential contribution to conservation objectives. The other articulation focuses on the rights pertaining to Indigenous peoples as peoples, including land rights and the right to selfdetermination. These articulations are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but they have potentially different consequences and indicate discursive tensions that can affect the space for Indigenous agency in relation to protected areas. Moreover, my results demonstrate the hegemony of discourses that takes conservation through area protection for granted and subordinates Indigenous land use to conservation objectives, structure Indigenous agency as “participation” in specific types of arrangement, and articulate Indigenous rights in relation to hegemonic constructions of sovereignty, self-determination, and rights. These hegemonic formations silence articulations that would challenge the authority of colonizing societies over Indigenous territories, suppress radical critique of the fundamental nature of arrangements for protected area governance and management, and subdue alternatives to discourses of contemporary liberal democracy and individual property rights.

In this study, the immediate and short term (three months) effects of conservation burning have been investigated in coniferous forests in southeastern Sweden. Five tree species were investigated Picea abies (Norway spruce), Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine), Populus tremula (aspen), Betula pendula (silver birch) and Betula pubescens (downy birch), as well as ground vegetation of mosses, dwarf shrubs and ground lichens. Burning increased the proportion of live deciduous tree shoots from 51 % to 81 % and the live tree shoot size distribution of four tree species was significantly changed by fire. Fire affected the tree species differently. Three months after burning deciduous tree species exhibited strong sprouting, while P. sylvestris had established many seedlings, significantly increasing its share of the tree stand. P. abies lacked any visible positive response to burning and its number of live shoots decreased by 83 %. Mineral soil was exposed on only the moss vegetation and covered just 4 % of the studied plot area. The initial vegetation response to fire was negative, but significant dwarf shrub recovery was detected three months after burning.

During July and August 2001 I carried out practical training at Store Mosse National Park. I collected dragonflies between weeks 30 and 34. All my collecting was of the adult insects - the imagines, and my aims were as follows:- to obtain a species list of dragonflies inhabiting the site.- to estimate the frequency of each species recorded. Identification was carried out in Sweden using a Swedish reference book, (Sandhall, .ke. 1987) and German references were used in the later compilation of the report. Most species recorded on Store Mosse are also found in Germany, with the exception of Coenagrion armatum. Sometimes there are different subspecies in each country, but their ecology is perhaps similar. However, differences in the annual life cycles and diurnal behaviour are possible. Store Mosse is a favourable place for Dragonflies. The moss has a varied structure, and former peat-diggings are an especially valuable habitat. The peat-diggings have water for most of the year water, but the pools of water are not big enough for some of the enemies of the dragonflies, especially fishes. It is also difficult for fish to disperse to, and survive in an acid habitat where the only input is rain water. In spite of the large number of Dragonflies, the population of each species varies in relative abundance. Some of the species are very rare while others are observed very frequently in all biotopes where dragonflies occur. Regionala inventeringsrapporter import från MDP 2015-05