Urban buskmosaik

Buskar är en välanvänd växtkategori i offentlig miljö i Sverige, men tenderar att framför allt användas i monotona massplanteringar som både har låga visuella- och ekologiska värden. Samtidigt är buskar det växtmaterial som är mest användbart med avseende på hållbarhet, låg skötselintensitet och mångsidighet. Buskar har även stor potential till att användas i planteringar som innehåller mer strukturell- och artmässig variation. Det här examensarbetet handlar om att sammanställa en lista med buskarter som kan användas i en biotopplantering karaktäriserad av extensiv skötsel och höga estetiska värden. Inspirationen till arbetet är hämtat från det australienska projektet The woody meadow project som har som utgångspunkt att skapa funktionella och estetiskt tilltalande mixade buskplanteringar. En unik aspekt med projektet är att nedskärning används som skötselmetod vilket innebär att bara buskarter som har förmågan att skjuta nya skott kan användas i planteringen. I det här arbetet undersöks vilka buskarter som hade kunnat användas på ett liknande sätt i en hårdgjord miljö i en sydsvensk kontext. Med stöd i utvald litteratur har ett systematiskt växturval utvecklats för att ta fram buskarter som kan användas i en biotopplantering dominerad av buskar. Ett stort antal arter har utvärderats mot kriterier som rör nedskärning, tillväxthastighet, torktolerans, ljus- och skuggtolerans samt blomning och andra visuella värden. Experter med kunskaper inom huvudområdena skötsel, anläggning och plantskola har utifrån sina erfarenheter utvärderat de framtagna arterna vilket har resulterat i en artlista med 30 stycken buskar som har potential att användas i en mixad buskplantering. Utifrån den framtagna artlistan presenteras ett förslag på hur en biotopplantering dominerad av buskar skulle kunna ta uttryck i en hårdgjord miljö i Malmö. Inspirationen till planteringens visuella och strukturella uttryck är hämtat från det naturliga växtsamhället maquis som också ligger till grund för konceptet, Urban buskmosaik.Shrubs are widely used in public spaces in Sweden but are generally used in monotonous shrub-masses that have low ornamental- and ecological value. At the same time, shrubs are considered to be the most useful plant material in terms of durability, low maintenance, and versatility. Shrubs also have great potential to be used in plantings that are spatially- and taxonomically complex. This thesis is about developing a shortlist of shrub species that can be used in a biotope planting characterized by extensive management and high aesthetic values. The Australian project The woody meadow project is the main inspiration for the thesis and is based on the idea of creating functional and aesthetically attractive mixed shrub plantings. A unique idea of The woody meadow project is that the shrubs are to be maintained by being periodically coppiced, which means that only shrub species likely to resprout are selected. This thesis aims to apply a similar concept as The woody meadow project but with a southern Swedish context in mind. A plant selection matrix has been developed to select shrubs that can be used in a biotope planting dominated by shrubs. A large number of species have been evaluated against criteria relating to coppicing, growth rate, tolerance of drought, tolerance of light and shadow as well as flowering and other visual values. Experts with knowledge in the main areas: maintenance, construction, and nursery have, based on their experience, evaluated the species, which has resulted in a species list of 30 shrubs that have the potential to be used in a mixed shrub planting. Based on the species list, a design is put together to present a biotope planting dominated by shrubs in a dense, urban streetscape in Malmö. The inspiration for the visual and structural characteristics of the concept Urban shrub mosaic is modeled on the natural Mediterranean plant community, maquis

The right thing at the right time: why ostensive naming facilitates word learning

The current study examines how focusing children's attention immediately after fast mapping improves their ability to retain novel names. Previous research suggests that young children can only retain novel names presented via referent selection if ostensive naming is provided and that such explicit naming works by increasing children's attention to the target and decreasing their attention to the competitor objects (Horst and Samuelson, 2008).This explanation of the function of ostensive naming after referent selection trials was tested by drawing 24-month-old children's attention to the target either by illuminating the target, covering the competitors, or both. A control group was given a social pragmatic cue (pointing). Children given social pragmatic cue support did not demonstrate retention. However, children demonstrated retention if the target object was illuminated, and also when it was illuminated and the competitors simultaneously dampened. This suggests that drawing children's attention to the target object in a manner that helps focus children's attention is critical for word learning via referent selection. Directing attention away from competitors while also directing attention toward a target also aids in the retention of novel words

Insects reared from logging residue on clear-cuts

Coniferous and deciduous logging residue (“slash”) was collected from six 1- year old and six 4-year old clear-cuts in South-West Sweden during the spring of 2002. In the laboratory, insects were emerged under standardised conditions. Insects emerged in 41% of the rearing-tubes with 1-year old slash. In 4-year old slash, 54% of the tubes contained insects. The most successfully emerged order was Coleoptera, represented by 10 families, 22 species and 425 individuals. The second most abundant order was Hymenoptera. The most abundant Coleoptera family was Curculionidae that comprised 48% of all the beetles. Four distinct species groups among Coleoptera were found, each group being separated by slash age and tree category (deciduous/coniferous). Significantly more species were found in the 4-year old deciduous slash, compared to the 1-year old. In coniferous slash, there was a tendency formore species in the 1-year old slash than in the 4-year old. The results suggest that slash is valuable as breeding substrate and/or food supply to the beetle fauna on clear-cuts

Dynamic vegetation design on newly built residential yards

Dagens stadsbyggnadsideal och förtätning gör att bostadsgårdar och den halvoffentliga ytan i staden minskar. Åkermark, industriområden och industrihamnar bebyggs med bostäder, i åtskilliga fall platser som inte har några uppvuxna träd och buskar. Detta ger speciella förutsättningar för dessa bostadsområdens framtida gröna miljöer. Målet är att sammanställa kunskap, på vilket sätt landskapsarkitekten i sitt arbete kan påverka vegetationens dynamiska utveckling vid gestaltning av nyanlagda bostadsgårdar. Detta syftar till att framföra alternativa metoder att utforma nybyggda bostadsgårdar med vegetationens dynamik som ett verktyg samt öka förståelsen för att vegetation är föränderlig och kan erbjuda olika kvaliteter i olika livsfaser. Kvaliteter som kan vara av stort värde i nybyggda bostadsområden. Genom en litteraturstudie sammanställs kunskap kopplat till frågeställningen. Denna kompletteras med fyra intervjuer där landskapsarkitektens roll och arbetsmetoder på bostadsgårdar undersöks. Litteraturstudien och intervjuer har resulterat i slutsatsen att arbetet som landskapsarkitekt är väldigt komplext och påverkas av den aktuella kontexten. Landskapsarkitektens val av arter och växtkvalitet kommer påverka hur vegetationen utvecklas. Bostadsgårdens rymlighet sätter ramar för vilken typ av vegetation som får plats på gården och därför även vilket utrymme det finns att jobba med dynamiska processer. För att visionen ska kunna påverka den långsiktiga utvecklingen måste den följa med under hela processen, ända ut i det praktiska utförandet av skötsel och förvaltning. Bristfällig koppling till förvaltningsskedet, otillräcklig kommunikation och kunskap försvårar landskapsarkitektens inverkan på vegetationens utveckling. Detta leder ofta till ett statiskt förhållningssätt till både design och förvaltning.Today's urban ideals and densification is decreasing the semi-public areas of the city. Farmland, industrial sites and industrial harbors are built with housing, in many cases sites with nearly no grown trees and shrubs.This provides special conditions for the future green spaces of these residential areas. The essay explores how the landscape architect in his work can influence the dynamic development of vegetation when designing new residential yards. This aims to bring forth alternative design methods as well as increase understanding that vegetation is changing and can offer distinctive character and qualities in different life stages. Qualities that can be of great value in newly built residential areas. A literature study compiles knowledge related to the issue. This is complemented by four interviews, investigating the role and working methods of the landscape architect. Literature studies and interviews have resulted in the conclusion that working as a landscape architect is very complex and influenced by the current context. The landscape architect's choice of species and plant quality will affect how vegetation develops. The spaciousness of the residential yard provides framework for what kind of vegetation that can be used and therefore also the space available for work with dynamic processes. In order for the vision to affect long-term development, it must follow throughout the process, even in the practical work of management. Inadequate linkage to the management phase, lack of communication and knowledge makes the landscape architect's impact more difficult. This often leads to a static approach to both design and management

The Right Thing at the Right Time: Why Ostensive Naming Facilitates Word Learning

The current study examines how focusing children’s attention immediately after fast mapping improves their ability to retain novel names. Previous research suggests that young children can only retain novel names presented via referent selection if ostensive naming is provided and that such explicit naming works by increasing children’s attention to the target and decreasing their attention to the competitor objects (Horst and Samuelson, 2008). This explanation of the function of ostensive naming after referent selection trials was tested by drawing 24-month-old children’s attention to the target either by illuminating the target, covering the competitors, or both. A control group was given a social pragmatic cue (pointing). Children given social pragmatic cue support did not demonstrate retention. However, children demonstrated retention if the target object was illuminated, and also when it was illuminated and the competitors simultaneously dampened. This suggests that drawing children’s attention to the target object in a manner that helps focus children’s attention is critical for word learning via referent selection. Directing attention away from competitors while also directing attention toward a target also aids in the retention of novel words

Learning what to remember: vocabulary knowledge and children’s memory for object names and features

Although young children can map a novel name to a novel object, it remains unclear what they actually remember about objects when they initially make such a name-object association. In the current study we investigated 1) what children remembered after they were initially introduced to name-object associations and 2) how their vocabulary size and vocabulary structure influenced what they remembered. As a group, children had difficulty remembering each of the features of the original novel objects. Further analyses revealed that differences in vocabulary structure predicted children’s ability to remember object features. Specifically, children who produced many names for categories organized by similarity in shape (e.g., ball, cup) had the best memory for newly-learned objects’ features—especially their shapes. In addition, the more features children remembered, the more likely they were to retain the newly-learned name-object associations. Vocabulary size, however, was not predictive of children’s feature memory or retention. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that children’s existing vocabulary structure, rather than simply vocabulary size, influences what they attend to when encountering a new object and subsequently their ability to remember new name-object associations

Extrem brandbelastning i bostadsmiljö

This rapport investigates hoarding in Sweden from a fire safety perspective. The aim is to help people, who will meet people suffering from pathological collecting. A study of articles that touched hoarding was made and temperature calculations were done. Swedish building regulations, Jordabalkens chapter regarding rent and the Swedish condominium law where also examined. Hoarding leads in many cases to an extreme fire load in dwellings. In case of fire, construction parts risk not being able withstanding the high temperatures. The risk for fire spread inside and outside the compartment increases and the evacuation ability decreases. Only if accepted by the hoarder, help can be provided from the local social services. The confidentiality leads to problems when different agents want to co-operate and solving the problems

The potential of vehicle and road infrastructure interventions in fatal bicyclist accidents on Swedish roads—What can in-depth studies tell us?

Objective: The objective of this article is to describe the characteristics of fatal crashes with bicyclists on Swedish roads in rural and urban areas and to investigate the potential of bicycle helmets and different vehicle and road infrastructure interventions to prevent them. The study has a comprehensive approach to provide road authorities and vehicle manufacturers with recommendations for future priorities. Methods: The Swedish Transport Administration’s (STA) in-depth database of fatal crashes was used for case-by-case analysis of fatal cycling accidents (2006–2016) on rural (n = 82) and urban (n = 102) roads. The database consists of information from the police, medical journals, autopsy reports, accident analyses performed by STA, and witness statements. The potential of helmet use and various vehicle and road infrastructure safety interventions was determined retrospectively for each case by analyzing the chain of events leading to the fatality. The potential of vehicle safety countermeasures was analyzed based on prognoses on their implementation rates in the Swedish vehicle fleet. Results: The most common accident scenario on rural roads was that the bicyclist was struck while cycling along the side of the road. On urban roads, the majority of accidents occurred in intersections. Most accidents involved a passenger car, but heavy trucks were also common, especially in urban areas. Most accidents occurred in daylight conditions (73%). Almost half (46%) of nonhelmeted bicyclists would have survived with a helmet. It was assessed that nearly 60% of the fatal accidents could be addressed by advanced vehicle safety technologies, especially autonomous emergency braking with the ability to detect bicyclists. With regard to interventions in the road infrastructure, separated paths for bicyclists and bicycle crossings with speed calming measures were found to have the greatest safety potential. Results indicated that 91% of fatally injured bicyclists could potentially be saved with known techniques. However, it will take a long time for such technologies to be widespread. Conclusions: The majority of fatally injured bicyclists studied could potentially be saved with known techniques. A speedy implementation of important vehicle safety systems is recommended. A fast introduction of effective interventions in the road infrastructure is also necessary, preferably with a plan for prioritization

Testing a word is not a test of word learning

Although vocabulary acquisition requires children learn names for multiple things, many investigations of word learning mechanisms teach children the name for only one of the objects presented. This is problematic because it is unclear whether children's performance reflects recall of the correct name-object association or simply selection of the only object that was singled out by being the only object named. Children introduced to one novel name may perform at ceiling as they are not required to discriminate on the basis of the name per se, and appear to rapidly learn words following minimal exposure to a single word. We introduced children to four novel objects. For half the children, only one of the objects was named and for the other children, all four objects were named. Only children introduced to one word reliably selected the target object at test. This demonstration highlights the over-simplicity of one-word learning paradigms and the need for a shift in word learning paradigms where more than one word is taught to ensure children disambiguate objects on the basis of their names rather than their degree of salience

Body Inversion Effects With Photographic Images of Body Postures: Is It About Faces?

As with faces, participants are better at discriminating upright bodies than inverted bodies. This inversion effect is reliable for whole figures, namely, bodies with heads, but it is less reliable for headless bodies. This suggests that removal of the head disrupts typical processing of human figures, and raises questions about the role of faces in efficient body discrimination. In most studies, faces are occluded, but the aim here was to exclude faces in a more ecologically valid way by presenting photographic images of human figures from behind (about-facing), as well as measuring gaze to different parts of the figures. Participants determined whether pairs of sequentially presented body postures were the same or different for whole and headless figures. Presenting about-facing figures (heads seen from behind) and forward-facing figures with faces enabled a comparison of the effect of the presence or absence of faces. Replicating previous findings, there were inversion effects for forward-facing whole figures, but less reliable effects for headless images. There were also inversion effects for about-facing whole figures, but not about-facing headless figures. Accuracy was higher in the forward- compared to the about-facing conditions, but proportional dwell time was greater to bodies in about-facing images. Likewise, despite better discrimination of forward-facing upright compared to inverted whole figures, participants focused more on the heads and less on the bodies in upright compared to inverted images. However, there was no clear relationship between performance and dwell time proportions to heads. Body inversion effects (BIEs) were found with about-facing whole figures and headless forward-facing figures, despite the absence of faces. With inverted whole figures, there was a significant relationship between performance and greater looking at bodies, and less at heads suggesting that in more difficult conditions a focus on bodies is associated with better discrimination. Overall, the findings suggest that the visual system has greater sensitivity to bodies in their most experienced form, which is typically upright and with a head. Otherwise, the more a face is implied by the context, as in whole figures or forward- rather than about-facing headless bodies, the better the performance as holistic/configural processing is likely stronger