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Purpose: The aim of this study is to measure the concurrent validity of the Athletic Skills Track (AST) by examining whether its outcome score correlates with the holistic judgments of experts about the quality of movement. Method: Video recordings of children performing the AST were shown to physical education teachers who independently gave a holistic rating of the movement quality of each child. Results: Both intra- and interrater reliability of the teachers' ratings were moderate to good. The holistic judgments on movement quality were significantly correlated with AST time, showing that higher ratings were associated with less time required to complete the track. Next, hierarchical stepwise regression indicated that in addition to the holistic rating, also age, but not gender, explained part of the variance in AST time. Conclusion: The findings show that the AST has good concurrent validity and provides a fast, indirect indication for quality of movement.

Increasing nitrogen depositions adversely affect European landscapes, including habitats within the Natura2000 network. Critical loads for nitrogen deposition have been established to quantify the loss of habitat quality. When the nitrogen deposition rises above a habitat-specific critical load, the quality of the focal habitat is expected to be negatively influenced. Here, we investigate how the quality of habitat types is affected beyond the critical load. We calculated response curves for 60 terrestrial habitat types in the Netherlands to the estimated nitrogen deposition (EMEP-data). The curves for habitat types are based on the occurrence of their characteristic plant species in North-Western Europe (plot data from the European Vegetation Archive). The estimated response curves were corrected for soil type, mean annual temperature and annual precipitation. Evaluation was carried out by expert judgement, and by comparison with gradient deposition field studies. For 39 habitats the response to nitrogen deposition was judged to be reliable by five experts, while out of the 41 habitat types for which field studies were available, 25 showed a good agreement. Some of the curves showed a steep decline in quality and some a more gradual decline with increasing nitrogen deposition. We compared the response curves with both the empirical and modelled critical loads. For 41 curves, we found a decline already starting below the critical load. [Display omitted] • Estimating response curves for habitat types for nitrogen deposition. • Nitrogen deposition seems to have a stronger effect than the critical loads indicate. • Many nitrogen deposition sensitive habitat types show a decreasing trend in quality. • Sensitive habitat types show a quality decrease at the lowest nitrogen deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]