Development of a Scenario-based Approach to Simulation Games Management

The Doctoral Thesis is elaborated in the field of scenario-based simulation game management. The essence of simulation games and their role in the learning process is studied, their advantages and disadvantages are identified. The concept of simulation game scenarios is developed that enables efficient game management by using formal methods. An integrated approach to simulation game scenario management is developed and the procedure for scenario generation, simulation and control; as well as its implementation mechanisms, are described.

Personality profile of team handball referees at expert level

Referees play a central role in every sport. Particularly at national level, referees must meet ever higher demands due to increasing professionalisation. While cognitive and conditional aspects have already been investigated intensively, personality traits of handball referees have so far only received little attention. In addition to a profound understanding of the game and knowledge of the rules, however, it is precisely the demands on referees’ personalities that are becoming increasingly important. Individual differences in personality are related to job performance in sports, especially with regard to coping with pressure and stress. Thus, personality is considered an essential component of the performance profile of referees and is required in the context of efficient game management. In this study, the personality profiles of male handball referees at expert level (N = 163) were examined for the first time, using the German version of the Big Five Inventory 2 (BFI-2). Standard values of the German general population from a population survey were used for comparison. Referees scored higher values in extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness and a lower value in negative emotionality. The results of this cross-sectional study provide initial insights into the personality of this group of referees and thus lay the foundation for further research. A study with referees from different performance levels or cultural backgrounds could provide information on whether the results of this study only apply to German handball referees at expert level or are valid for all handball referees.

Identification of Differences in Hunting Management in Poland and Selected European Countries in the Context of Sustainable Development

The purpose of this article was to identify significant differences in the hunting management process in Poland and selected European countries in the context of their impact on the preservation of biodiversity and the implementation of the idea of sustainable development. The goal was achieved through the analysis of hunting management in selected European countries through the prism of the assumptions made by Aldo Leopold in 1933. Based on the analysis carried out, it was found that hunting management in relation to Leopold’s postulates has best been undertaken by France. Moreover, the wild game management process should be actively implemented and based on the still up-to-date, universal postulates of Leopold, which can be treated as a model approach.

Leopard Panthera pardus density and survival in an ecosystem with depressed abundance of prey and dominant competitors

The leopard Panthera pardus is in range-wide decline, and many populations are highly threatened. Prey depletion is a major cause of global carnivore declines, but the response of leopard survival and density to this threat is unclear: by reducing the density of a dominant competitor (the lion Panthera leo) prey depletion could create both costs and benefits for subordinate competitors. We used capture–recapture models fitted to data from a 7-year camera-trap study in Kafue National Park, Zambia, to obtain baseline estimates of leopard population density and sex-specific apparent survival rates. Kafue is affected by prey depletion, and densities of large herbivores preferred by lions have declined more than the densities of smaller herbivores preferred by leopards. Lion density is consequently low. Estimates of leopard density were comparable to ecosystems with more intensive protection and favourable prey densities. However, our study site is located in an area with good ecological conditions and high levels of protection relative to other portions of the ecosystem, so extrapolating our estimates across the Park or into adjacent Game Management Areas would not be valid. Our results show that leopard density and survival within north-central Kafue remain good despite prey depletion, perhaps because (1) prey depletion has had weaker effects on preferred leopard prey compared to larger prey preferred by lions, and (2) the density of dominant competitors is consequently low. Our results show that the effects of prey depletion can be more complex than uniform decline of all large carnivore species, and warrant further investigation.

Redundant Photo-Voltaic Power Cell in a Highly Reliable System

The conversion of solar energy into electricity makes it possible to generate a power resource at the relevant location, independent of the availability of the electrical network. The application of the technology greatly facilitates the supply of electricity to objects that, due to their location, cannot be connected to the electrical network. Typical areas of use are nature reserves, game management areas, large-scale agricultural areas, large-scale livestock areas, industrial pipeline routes, water resources far from infrastructure, etc. The protection of such areas and assets and the detection of their functionality are of particular importance, sectors classified as critical infrastructure are of paramount importance. This article aims to show the conceptual structure of a possible design of a high-reliability, redundant, modular, self-monitoring, microcontroller-controlled system that can be used in the outlined areas.

Estimating brown bear abundance and harvest rate on the southern Alaska Peninsula

Abundance estimation of hunted brown bear populations should occur on the same geographic scale as harvest data analyses for estimation of harvest rate. Estimated harvest rates are an important statistic for managing hunted bear populations. In Alaska, harvest data is collected over large geographic units, called Game Management Units (GMUs) and sub-GMUs. These sub GMUs often exceed 10,000 km2. In the spring of 2002, we conducted an aerial survey of GMU 9D (12,600 km2) and GMU 10 (4,070 km2) using distance sampling with mark-resight data. We used a mark-resight distance sampling method with a two-piece normal detection function to estimate brown bear abundance as 1,682.9 (SE = 174.29) and 316.9 (SE = 48.25) for GMU 9D and GMU 10, respectively. We used reported hunter harvest to estimate harvest rates of 4.35% (SE = 0.45%) and 3.06% (SE = 0.47%) for GMU 9D and GMU 10, respectively. Management objective for these units support sustained, high quality hunting opportunity which harvest data indicate are met with an annual harvest rate of approximately 5–6% or less.

From Paleolithic Wild Boar to Neolithic Pigs

Wild boar are dangerous animals that Paleolithic peoples hunted infrequently for the first million years of human-suid contact. Projectile weapons, nets, and the domestication of dogs allowed Natufian hunter-gatherers (12,500–9700 BC) to find in wild boar a reliable source of food. By the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (9700–8500 BC), human populations had developed close relationships with local wild boar. Intensive hunting or perhaps game management took place at Hallan Çemi in Anatolia, and the introduction of wild boar to Cyprus by at latest 9400 BC indicates the willingness of humans to capture and transport wild boar. At the same time, the presence of sedentary villages and the waste they produced likely attracted wild boar to human habitats. These early relationships between people and suids—game management and commensalism—evolved over the course of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic into full-fledged animal husbandry that, by around 7500 BC, had selected for domestic pigs.

Game Damage tendencies by Kaposvár Forestry - from 1998 to 2017

In Hungary, most of the game damage is located in a few counties. 75-80% of the agriculturalgame damage originates from 5 counties, but those take only 24% of Hungary’s area. During the hunting season of 2016-17, the amount of agricultural game damage almost reached 2.6 billion HUF and a quarter of it was paid in Somogy County. SEFAG is the largest game management company in Somogy that manages half of the county’s forests. The investigated Kaposvár Forestry is one of the eight forestries of SEFAG and it has 7 600 hectares hunting area. Our research shows that game damage is decreasing and it is centralized around a few settlements in this area. Also, we found a significant change in the structure of crops affected by game damage.