Simple Principles for Guiding of Large-Scale Landscape Restorations

Restoration projects are complex and especially upscaling of restoration represent challenges that must be solved in a multidisciplinary setting. To establish cooperation between the wide range of professions there is a need for “fixed points” of communication that allows for constructive dialogue and to prevent misconceptions. We have developed and tested four simple principles that are aimed for use throughout the restoration process and to be immediately applicable for “on-the-ground” interventions. They are designed to work dynamically in the dialog between all personnel involved in a project, such as project owners, contractors, authorities, and consultants. By organizing the dialogue towards the four simple principles it is easier to explain the link between goals, specific work procedures and how they are solved. The principles can also be used when the projects are evaluated. The article focuses mainly on the use of the principles for nature diversity and landscapes, but they are also used and intended for all professions involved in restoration projects. Ecosystem Restoration; Project Principles; “Green Training”; Multidisciplinary Integration; Natural Processes; DialoguepublishedVersio

Working with Natural Processes: Restoring a Mining Landscape in the High Arctic, Svalbard, Norway

The Svea coal mines in Svalbard have been closed, and the area is under restoration. The goal of the landscape restoration was to enable dynamic ecological and geomorphological processes by removing roads, housing, industrial facilities, airports, landflls, and quarries that once dominated the area. Cultural heritage features, such as pre-1946 buildings, structures, and mining traces, have been preserved, while the rest of the landscape has been restored to a near-natural state. The focus has been restoring geodiversity in this arctic environment, where biotic processes are slow. Geomorphological processes such as glacial, slope, fuvial, coastal, and permafrost processes dominate and give the landscape its geological character. The objective of the restoration is not merely to re-create the landscape’s previous appearance but rather to ensure that natural processes can function as they did in the past, contributing to the ongoing development and evolution of all restored land surfaces. As of 2023, most of the area has already been restored. In areas with rapid geomorphological processes, the land will soon be dominated by these processes. Revegetation is one of the major ecological processes the restoration seeks to facilitate. Revegetation is a slow process in arctic environments, and it will take many decades before vegetation covers restored bare surfaces. The project forms a valuable baseline for studying and discussing geomorphology, landscape dynamics, geodiversity, biodiversity, and ecology for nature management and landscape restoration.publishedVersio

A Preliminary Analysis of the Importance of Distance, Angle, and Insight When Soccer Referees Make Penalty Decisions

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Coping with external stressors in handball and football elite refereeing: The relationship with referee efficacy

This study investigated the association between referee efficacy and self-reported coping with external stressors among elite handball and football referees. The participants were 224 Norwegian elite referees of handball (n = 111, m age = 35.3 years, 13.5% females) and football (113, m age = 30.8 years, 8% females) who had been referees for an average of 14.4 years (sd = 7.77 years; min: 4, max: 37) and a referee at the present level for 6.8 years (sd = 6.20 years, min: 1, max: 32). Referee self-efficacy was measured using the Norwegian version of the Referee Self-Efficacy Scale. Self-reported coping with external stressors was measured using responses to statements related to the referee’s self-perceived decision-making process in the presence of several sources of external stressors. Referee self-efficacy was positively associated with coping with external stressors (b = .24 (se = .11), p = .021). Football referees reported higher levels of coping with external stressors (b = .28 (se = .08), p = .001) than handball referees, and the number of years of elite refereeing was positively related to coping with external stressors. The findings provide evidence of a positive relationship between referee efficacy and coping with external stressors when making decisions.   Keywords: Referee Self-Efficacy Scale, decision-making, social pressure, team sport referee

Coping with external stressors in handball and football elite refereeing: The relationship with referee efficacy

This study investigated the association between referee efficacy and self-reported coping with external stressors among elite handball and football referees. The participants were 224 Norwegian elite referees of handball (n = 111, m age = 35.3 years, 13.5% females) and football (113, m age = 30.8 years, 8% females) who had been referees for an average of 14.4 years (sd = 7.77 years; min: 4, max: 37) and a referee at the present level for 6.8 years (sd = 6.20 years, min: 1, max: 32). Referee self-efficacy was measured using the Norwegian version of the Referee Self-Efficacy Scale. Self-reported coping with external stressors was measured using responses to statements related to the referee’s self-perceived decision-making process in the presence of several sources of external stressors. Referee self-efficacy was positively associated with coping with external stressors (b = .24 (se = .11), p = .021). Football referees reported higher levels of coping with external stressors (b = .28 (se = .08), p = .001) than handball referees, and the number of years of elite refereeing was positively related to coping with external stressors. The findings provide evidence of a positive relationship between referee efficacy and coping with external stressors when making decisions. Keywords: Referee Self-Efficacy Scale, decision-making, social pressure, team sport refereespublishedVersio

Index Measuring Land Use Intensity—A Gradient‐Based Approach

To monitor the changes in the landscape, and to relate these to ecological processes, we need robust and reproducible methods for quantifying the changes in landscape patterns. The main aim of this study is to present, exemplify and discuss a gradient‐based index of land use intensity. This index can easily be calculated from spatial data that are available for most areas and may therefore have a wide applicability. Further, the index is adapted for use based on official data sets and can thus be used directly in decision‐making at different levels. The index in its basic form consists of two parts where the first is based on the data of buildings and roads and the second of infrastructure land cover. We compared the index with two frequently used ‘wilderness indices’ in Norway called INON and the Human Footprint Index. Our index captures important elements of infrastructure in more detailed scales than the other indices. A particularly attractive feature of the index is that it is based on map databases that are updated regularly. The index has the potential to serve as an important tool in land use planning as well as a basis for monitoring, the assessment of ecological state and ecological integrity and for ecological accounting as well as strategic environmental assessments. infrastructure; land use; index; landscape; planning; monitoringpublishedVersio

Predicting the foraging patterns of wintering Auks using a sea surface temperature model for the Barents Sea

1. The conservation of seabirds is increasingly important for their role as indicator species of ocean ecosystems, which are predicted to experience increasing levels of exploitation this century. Safeguarding these ecosystems will require predictive, spatial studies of seabird foraging hotspots. Current research on seabird foraging hotspots has established a significant relationship between probability of presence and several environmental variables, including Sea Surface Temperature (SST). However, inter-annual, basin-wide variation has the potential to invalidate these models, which depend on seasonal mesoscale variability. 2. In this study, we present a novel solution to predict presence from spatially and temporally variable environmental predictors, while reducing the influence of large-scale basin-wide variation. We model the Maximum Entropy (MaxENT) Model-derived relationship between Standardized Monthly SST (StdSST) and Habitat Suitability using Gaussian curve models, and then apply these models to independent StdSST data to produce heatmaps of predicted seabird presence. 3. In this study, we demonstrate StdSST to be a functional environmental predictor of seabird presence, within a Gaussian curve model framework. We demonstrate accurate predictions of the model’s training data and of independent seabird presence data to a high degree of accuracy (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve > 0.65) for four species of Auk: Common Guillemots (Uria aalge), Razorbills (Alca torda), Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) and Brunnich’s Guillemots (Uria lomvia). 4. We believe that the methodology we have developed and tested in this study can be used to guide ecosystem management practices by converting coupled-climate model predictions into predictions of future presence based on Habitat Suitability for the species, allowing us to consider the possible effects of climate change and yearly variation of SST on foraging seabird hotspots in the Barents Sea Atlantic Puffin, Barents Sea, Brunnich’s Guillemot, Common Guillemot, ecological modelling, MaxENT, Razorbill, spatial ecologypublishedVersio

Predicting the foraging patterns of wintering Auks using a sea surface temperature model for the Barents Sea

1. The conservation of seabirds is increasingly important for their role as indicator species of ocean ecosystems, which are predicted to experience increasing levels of exploitation this century. Safeguarding these ecosystems will require predictive, spatial studies of seabird foraging hotspots. Current research on seabird foraging hotspots has established a significant relationship between probability of presence and several environmental variables, including Sea Surface Temperature (SST). However, inter-annual, basin-wide variation has the potential to invalidate these models, which depend on seasonal mesoscale variability. 2. In this study, we present a novel solution to predict presence from spatially and temporally variable environmental predictors, while reducing the influence of large-scale basin-wide variation. We model the Maximum Entropy (MaxENT) Model-derived relationship between Standardized Monthly SST (StdSST) and Habitat Suitability using Gaussian curve models, and then apply these models to independent StdSST data to produce heatmaps of predicted seabird presence. 3. In this study, we demonstrate StdSST to be a functional environmental predictor of seabird presence, within a Gaussian curve model framework. We demonstrate accurate predictions of the model’s training data and of independent seabird presence data to a high degree of accuracy (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve > 0.65) for four species of Auk: Common Guillemots (Uria aalge), Razorbills (Alca torda), Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) and Brunnich’s Guillemots (Uria lomvia). 4. We believe that the methodology we have developed and tested in this study can be used to guide ecosystem management practices by converting coupled-climate model predictions into predictions of future presence based on Habitat Suitability for the species, allowing us to consider the possible effects of climate change and yearly variation of SST on foraging seabird hotspots in the Barents Sea Atlantic Puffin, Barents Sea, Brunnich’s Guillemot, Common Guillemot, ecological modelling, MaxENT, Razorbill, spatial ecologypublishedVersio

Latency reduction in distributed interactive applications by core-node selection and migration

Massive multiplayer online games (MMOGs) have stringent latency requirements, and must support a large amount of concurrent players. To handle these conflicting requirements, it is common to divide the virtual world into smaller virtual regions. As MMOGs attract players from all over the world, it is plausible to disperse these regions on geographically distributed servers. Core-node selection algorithms can then be applied to locate an optimal server for placing a region or instance, based on client latencies. In this thesis, we have designed and implemented a prototype of a middleware which supports core-node selection algorithms and migration. Using this middleware, we have built a test application which simulates a simple MMOG. This application has been tested on PlanetLab, with clients and servers distributed all over the world. We have also performed micro benchmarks on the middleware itself, to test how it performs

Relative age and perceptions of soccer specific skills among elite youth players in Norway

One common feature among the selected players in talent development programs are the well-known relative age effect (RAE), characterized by a skewed birth distribution among selected players with an over-representation of players born early in the selection year. The aim of the present study was to examine potential differences in soccer-specific skills between players selected for national talent program born in the first half of the year compared to the players born in the second half of the year. A total of 753 elite male U 14 (N = 363) and U 13 players (N = 390) from 16 of 18 soccer regions in Norway participated. The results showed players born early in the selection year considered themselves stronger and faster than late born players. Similar, coaches considered the players born early in the selection year as stronger than players born late in the selection year. Neither the players or coaches considered the early born players as technically, tactically and mentally better. Within a talent development program, we argue that coaches and recruiters should be aware of differences in relative age, and thus prevent that late born players must compensate their physical disadvantages to be allowed into such programs