Editorial

This special issue of the Nordic Journal of Information Literacy in Higher Education summarizes the conference Creating Knowledge VII held in Lund, Sweden, August 14-16, 2013. The conference was hosted by Lund University Libraries in cooperation with NordINFOLIT. The title was Win-win ways: educational enhancement through collaborative partnership between students, academics, and librarians

Coarse woody debris legacies and their dynamics in retained forest patches

Retaining trees in small patches at final harvest is a common forest conservation measure to maintain structural and biological diversity through the young forest phase. Long-term studies of coarse woody debris (CWD, breast height diameter ≥ 10 cm) changes in retention patches remain uncommon, especially in relation to different types of patches with varying tree species composition, ground moisture, size, shape, and exposure. In the present study we re-inventoried CWD three times (1–3, 5–7 and 18–20 years after harvesting) in 60 small tree retention patches (0.03–0.54 ha) of six commonly created retention patch types, in central boreal Sweden. Most retention patch types, despite being very small (3 ha−1 and buffer zones to rocky outcrop the highest average volume of 32 m3 ha−1, when summarised over the whole study period. Very few patch-level environmental variables (except type) related to the amount of CWD in retention patches; only the retained living tree volume of patches during creation was clearly positively correlated with higher post-harvest CWD volumes. Patch characteristics such as size and shape index did not relate to the CWD volumes in retention patches, and patch exposure only related to higher CWD volumes within the first 1–3 years after harvest. Retention patches generally supported a variety of living trees, CWD volumes and qualities over time. Several retention patch types; such as free-standing coniferous and deciduous patches, rocky outcrop buffers, wet forest patches and buffers to water, supported average CWD volumes between 19–41 m3 ha−1 after 18–20 years, under remaining canopy cover. Our findings challenge the traditional management principles aimed at minimizing severe windthrow and CWD input (i.e., creating larger patches (>0.5–1 ha), choosing topographically sheltered areas, selecting specific tree species and ground conditions). However, our study was too small in scale to investigate multiple within-patch-type interacting environmental variables. Future larger-scale studies over extended time periods are needed to disentangle such interactions for the dynamics of CWD and associated biodiversity in retention patches

Company forms for agriculture companies : advantage and disadvantage

Lantbruksföretag kan förekomma i olika företagsformer. Då det finns ett antal olika regler, såväl skatterättsliga som civilrättsliga som gäller för olika slags företagsformer så är det viktigt att ha rätt slags företagsform. De företagsformer som förekommer för lantbruksföretag är enskild firma, enkelt bolag, handelsbolag, kommanditbolag och aktiebolag. De frågeställningar som jag har i arbetet är: Vilket är bästa företagsformen för lantbruksföretag, vilken betydelse har företagsformen vid ett generationsskifte samt vilken skatt det blir på uttaget vid olika företagsformer. Det kan konstateras att skattemässigt så har man i stor utsträckning neutralitet mellan de olika företagsformerna. Detta genom att ägare till enskilda firmor, enkla bolag, handelsbolag och kommanditbolag har möjlighet att göra räntefördelning som innebär ett slags ränta på deras egna kapital. Vidare har de möjlighet att sätta av till expansionsfond och periodiseringsfond vilket innebär en resultatutjämning mellan olika år. I enskild firma och enkelt bolag så är det ägaren som är skattesubjekt och som ansvarar för alla förpliktelser och åtaganden. Handelsbolag och kommanditbolag är självständiga juridiska personer men ägarna har personligt ansvar för de åtaganden och förpliktelser som bolaget har. Skattemässigt så deklarerar ägarna för bolagets inkomster medan bolaget självt svarar för moms, fastighetsskatt och arbetsgivareavgifter. Finessen med ett kommanditbolag är att det endast är en av delägarna som behöver vara obegränsat ansvarig medan resten av delägarna kan ha ett ansvar som begränsas till satsat kapital. Aktiebolag är självständiga juridiska personer som även är skattesubjekt. Ägarna riskerar här endast sitt aktiekapital. Vid enmansföretag är enskild firma det enklaste, men ur risksynpunkt är aktiebolag att föredra. Om det är två eller flera som driver verksamhet som inte är alltför omfattande så räcker det med enkelt bolag annars bör man ha aktiebolag. Vid ett generationsskifte så beror det på hur mycket överlåtaren vill ha ut för de lösa tillgångarna vad det gäller bästa företagsform. Om lösöret är lågt bokfört så kan man i ett aktiebolag sälja ut tillgångarna till verkligt värde och endast skatta med 28 % och sedan ta ut vinsten som lågbeskattat kapital under ett antal år. Vad det gäller skatt på uttag är det vinsten i företaget som beskattas hos ägaren vid enskild firma, enkelt bolag, handelsbolag och kommanditbolag. I ett aktiebolag sker uttagen antingen som lön eller utdelning. Bolaget betalar skatt och arbetsgivareavgifter. Utdelning beskattas som vinst hos bolaget och inkomst av kapital hos ägaren.Agriculture companies could be in different company forms. There are various rules between different company forms. The company forms that you have in agriculture are private firm, private firm with more than one owner, trading company, limited partnership and limited company. The questions that I had was the following: What is the best company form to a agricultural company, which meaning does the company form have in a change of generation and what are the taxes on the money the owner takes out of the company in different company forms. If you take a look on the taxes there is nearly neutrality between the company forms. In private firms, trading company and limited company the owner has the possibility to take interest which is based on the owner's capital. They also have the possibility to equalize incomes between different years by the use of tax funds. In a private firm and in a private firm with more than one owner it is the owner who has the personally responsible for the firm's agreements and liabilities. The owner is the tax subject. A trading company and a limited partnership is a juridical person but the owners still have the personally responsibility for the company's liabilities and agreements. In a trading company and a limited partnership it is the company which have to account for the VAT, the house tax and employer's contribution but the owners have to declare the profit in the company. In a limited partnership there are two types of owners: limited partners whose liability is limited to the capital they have provided and there also is at least one general partner whose liability is unlimited. A limited company is a juridical person. It is a tax subject. The owners have the responsibility of the capital they have provided. In a one man company the private firm is the easiest, but to eliminate the risk the limited company is to prefer. If there is more than one person in a company which is not too big they could have a private firm with more than one owner. If the company is more extensive it is better to have a limited company. In a change of generation it depends of how much the older generation want to get paid for the assets to find out the best company form. If the assets are low entered it is possible in a limited company to sell the assets to the real value and only pay tax with 28%. After that the older generation could take out the profit as low-taxed capital during a couple of years. Concerning tax on the money the owner takes out of the company it is the company's profit that the owner had to pay tax for in a private firm, a private firm with more than one owner, trading company and limited partnership. In a limited company the money that the owner takes out becomes salary or dividend. The limited company pays the tax and employers contribution. The dividend is taxed as profit as the company and income of capital to the owner

Bryophytes of conservation concern decline and traits change in retention patches during two decades following forest harvest

Setting aside tree retention patches at final harvest is a common forest conservation measure, but the long-term responses of species of conservation concern to different types of forest retention remain unknown. This is the first long-term study of the dynamics of bryophytes of conservation concern and associated traits in small forest retention patches (0.01-0.53 ha) over almost two decades and in relation to environmental drivers. We applied joint species distribution models to compare how bryophytes changed in terms of occurrence, abundance, species richness and traits between year 2000, 2006 and 2018, and in relation to five different retention patch types, patch area, retained living tree volume per hectare, structural heterogeneity, and surrounding habitat openness. Bryophytes responded mostly negatively to the long-term environmental change, although with considerable variation depending on retention patch type. Only negative trends were detected for individual species. Still, no regional extinctions (loss of species from all local patches) occurred and there was a tendency for recovery of a few species. Bryophytes with predominantly asexual reproductive modes and small colony size (< 100 cm(2)) increased in occurrence probability over time, indicating that these traits were beneficial for the long-term persistence of species in small and exposed forest patches. We recommend forest managers to create large (preferably up to 0.5 ha) and variable retention patches, both in terms of patch type (i.e. buffer zones and free-standing groups of different dominant tree species and ground moisture) and structural heterogeneity (i.e. living tree volumes, large and small trees, and deadwood)

Presentation of visible stormwater management in private gardens and courtyards

Världen står inför ett klimat i förändring. Redan idag märker vi av dessa förändringar och då främst i form av temperatur- och nederbördsförändringar. Den nederbörd som faller över en, av människan, bebyggd miljö osynliggörs snabbt och leds effektivt bort i underjordiga ledningar för att slutligen hamna i våra sjöar och vattendrag eller i ett reningsverk. Förutom att dessa traditionella kommunala ledningssystem inte är ekologiskt hållbara så är de dessutom underdimensionerade och uttjänta och klarar inte av de flödesvariationer som uppstår vid extrema skyfall, vilket resulterar i översvämningar och bräddning av avloppsvatten i sjöar och vattendrag. Det har byggts och byggs fortfarande ett samhälle som är ytterst väderberoende och sårbart. Andelen hårdgjorda ytor ökar och mängden växtlighet minskar vilket leder till mindre infiltration och evapotranspiration samt att den ytliga avrinningen ökar dramatiskt. Privata trädgårdar och bostadsgårdar täcker en betydande del av ytan i städerna. Här är ett tillfälle då den lilla tomtägaren kan hjälpa till att skapa ett mer hållbart samhälle. Så att inspirera och influera till en förändring mot en mer hållbar hantering av dagvattnet i de privata trädgårdarna är viktig. Att fokusera sig på estetiska lösningar snarare än på det praktiska och tekniska är relevant eftersom det i en privat trädgård är viktigt att hanteringen är tilltalande och vacker. Att vattnet kan ses som en resurs som kännas berikande och kan inspirera till avkoppling och lek.The world is facing a changing climate. Already, we notice these changes, mainly in the form of temperature and precipitation changes. The rain that falls over, by man built environment are quickly made invisible and efficiently passed away in the underground pipes to finally end up in our lakes and streams or in a treatment plant. In addition to these traditional municipal drainage infrastructure not being ecologically sustainable, they are also undersized and deteriorated and can not handle the flow fluctuations that occur during extreme rainfall, resulting in flooding and discharges of raw sewage into rivers and streams. It has been built and are still being built a society that is extremely weather dependent and vulnerable. The proportion of impervious surfaces increases and the amount of vegetation decreases resulting in less infiltration and evapotranspiration leading to the surface runoff increases dramatically. Private gardens and courtyards cover a significant portion of the surface in the cities. This is an occasion when the small plot owner can help to create a more sustainable society. To inspire and influence a change towards a more sustainable management of stormwater in the private gardens is important. To focus on the aesthetic rather than the practical and technical is relevant because in a private garden it is important that management is appealing and beautiful. That water shall be seen as a resource that feels rewarding and will inspire you to relax and play

Gruppverksamhet för barn till missbrukare : en jämförande studie av två gruppmodeller

In Sweden approximately ten percent of all children grows up in a family where at least one parent is having an alcohol related addiction. Since 1998 the development of group activities for children in this situation has been immense. The aim of group activities is to break the child's isolation and make them feel that they are not lonely in their experiences, give them knowledge about addiction and relive the pressure of guilt and responsibility. In a comparative study we examined studied how two different group activity models one with the conception of illness and one without, use the children's network to support the group process. The aim was also to find each models definition of the "normal family", since we understood the groupactivity as a part in the normalization process. We reached our aim through interviews with group leaders and by literature studies. Central words in our essay are system theory/network and normalisation. The primary conclusion of the essay is that group activities are not using the children's own network in the extent that we thought. The group activities aim is to give the children tools to manage their everyday life. That addiction is an illness seems to be the dominating model

Modelling managed forest ecosystems in Sweden : Poster presentation:

In this work, the forestry-enabled dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS was used to simulate forest standing volume for the three main regions of Sweden. At the regional scale, the model results were evaluated against observational data from the Swedish National Forest Inventory. Carbon fluxes of net ecosystem exchange (NEE), gross primary productivity (GPP), and ecosystem respiration (Reco) were simulated at the local scale on a daily time step for two sites in Sweden and results were evaluated against data from the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS). The model produced adequate results of standing volume in monocultures of Norway spruce and Scots pine for southern and central Sweden, after an updated parameterization of the species. Stand-scale simulations of carbon fluxes produced mixed results after an evaluation against EC data from ICOS