Does the stock market value the inclusion in a sustainability stock index? An event study analysis for German firms

This paper empirically analyzes the effect of the inclusion of German corporations in the Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index (DJSI STOXX) and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) on stock performance. In order to receive robust estimation results, we apply an (short-term) event study approach that is based on both a modern asset pricing model, namely the three-factor model according to Fama and French [24], and additionally a t-GARCH(1,1) model. Our empirical results suggest that stock markets may penalize the inclusion of a firm in sustainability stock indexes. This finding is mainly driven by a strongly negative effect of the inclusion in the DJSI World. In contrast, we do not find significant average cumulative abnormal returns for the inclusion in the DJSI STOXX. This suggests that the inclusion in a more visible sustainability stock index may have larger negative impacts.     

Trill performance components vary with age, season, and motivation in the banded wren

Acoustic displays with difficult-to-execute sounds are often subject to strong sexual selection because performance levels are related to the sender’s condition or genetic quality. Performance may also vary with age, breeding stage, and motivation related to social context. We focused on within-male variation in four components of trill performance in banded wren (Thryophilus pleurostictus) songs: note consistency, frequency bandwidth, note rate, and vocal deviation. The latter is a composite measure reflecting deviation from the performance limit on simultaneously maximizing both frequency bandwidth and note rate. We compared the changes in these song parameters at three time scales: over the course of years, across the breeding season, and at different times of the day with contrasting agonistic contexts. Vocal deviation decreased and note consistency increased between years, suggesting that experience may improve individual proficiency at singing trills. Consistency also increased across the season, confirming that practice is important for this parameter. Although there was no significant seasonal change in vocal deviation, one of its components, note rate, increased during the season. Neither vocal deviation nor consistency varied with agonistic context. However, note rate increased during playback experiments simulating territorial intrusions compared to dawn chorus singing. The magnitude of a male’s increase in note rate was positively correlated with his aggressive behavior during the playback experiment. Thus consistency, bandwidth, and vocal deviation indicate age, whereas trill rate flexibly indicates the singer’s aggressive motivation. We also found evidence of a within-male trade-off between vocal deviation and consistency.     

Environmental education,community mobilization and sustainable development in Hong Kong: a comparative perspective

SUMMARY

This paper focuses on efforts to promote environmental education and community mobilization around environmental issues in Hong Kong. It is primarily concerned with efforts directed at the broader community (i.e. the population as a whole) rather than with environmental education through formal school and college curricula. The paper draws on a recently completed study commissioned by the Environmental Campaign Committee, the principal source of financial support for such efforts undertaken by environmental NGOs, community groups and educational institutions in Hong Kong. The study examined how and to what effect the Committee had used its financial resources between 1994–1999. It also examined international experience with a view to recommending changes in the overall approach to environmental education and community mobilization initiatives and their funding in Hong Kong.

The paper suggests that the existing approach to community-wide environmental education and its funding in Hong Kong have suffered from various weaknesses, most notably the absence of an integrated and goal-oriented strategy, an over-reliance on a ‘top-down’ campaign-based approach, a failure to establish explicit linkages with the concept of sustainable development and to ground initiatives at the local neighbourhood and community levels, and a preoccupation with the financial inputs provided to support this work at the expense of effective monitoring and auditing of project outputs and benefits.     

Trace Metals in Fish and Crustaceans - Identifying Heavier Polluted Areas in the Ghanaian Continental Shelf

Abstract

The concentrations of four trace metals, namely copper, lead, cadmium and manganese, were determined in six fish species and three crustaceans collected from five sites spanning over 70% of the Ghanaian coastline.

Copper and lead were determined in Barracuda (Spraena spraena), the Ribbon fish (Trichiurus lepturus), the Sardine (Sardinella spp), the Sole (Cynoflossus senegalensis), the Sea Bream (Pagrus coupei) and the Soldier fish (Cynapastas marmuratus). Cadmium and manganese were analyzed in the Blue Crab (Callinectes sepidus), the Spiny lobster (Panilirus regius) and the edible shrimp (Crago septempinosus). Sampling sites included Takoradi, Elmina, Cape Coast, Accra and Tema.

Lead and copper in the fishes ranged 0.25-0.94 μgg^?1 fresh weight and 0.40-2.54 μgg^?1 dry weight (FW) respectively whilst cadmium and manganese in the crustaceans ranged 0.05-0.083 μgg^?1 FW and 0.554-1.404 μgg^?1 FW respectively.

The Barracuda accumulated the greatest amount of metals whilst the sardine accumulated the least. with the crustaceans, there was a significant difference between the amounts of the metals accumulated. the blue crab accumulated the greatest and the edible shrimp the least.

The analysis showed that: (i) there was a positive correlation between the metals bioconcentrated and the extent of pollution of the marine waters and (ii) along the Ghanaian Continental Shelf, the extent of pollution was of the increasing order as: Elmina = Cape Coast < Takoradi < Accra < Tema. Pollution of the marine waters could be minimized by control of flow of pollutants from land based activities.     

Development and Parameterization of a Rain- and Fire-driven Model for Exploring Elephant Effects in African Savannas

We describe the development and parameterization of a grid-based model of African savanna vegetation processes. The model was developed with the objective of exploring elephant effects on the diversity of savanna species and structure, and in this formulation concentrates on the relative cover of grass and woody plants, the vertical structure of the woody plant community, and the distribution of these over space. Grid cells are linked by seed dispersal and fire, and environmental variability is included in the form of stochastic rainfall and fire events. The model was parameterized from an extensive review of the African savanna literature; when available, parameter values varied widely. The most plausible set of parameters produced long-term coexistence between woody plants and grass, with the tree–grass balance being more sensitive to changes in parameters influencing demographic processes and drought incidence and response, while less sensitive to fire regime. There was considerable diversity in the woody structure of savanna systems within the range of uncertainty in tree growth rate parameters. Thus, given the paucity of height growth data regarding woody plant species in southern African savannas, managers of natural areas should be cognizant of different tree species growth and damage response attributes when considering whether to act on perceived elephant threats to vegetation.     

Sulphate, Nitrogen and Base Cation Budgets at 21 Forested Catchments in Canada, the United States and Europe

To assess the concern over declining base cation levels in forest soils caused by acid deposition, input-output budgets (1990s average) for sulphate (SO₄), inorganic nitrogen (NO₃-N; NH₄-N), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K) were synthesised for 21 forested catchments from 17 regions in Canada, the United States and Europe. Trend analysis was conducted on monthly ion concentrations in deposition and runoff when more than 9 years of data were available (14 regions, 17 sites). Annual average SO₄ deposition during the 1990s ranged between 7.3 and 28.4 kg ha⁻¹ per year, and inorganic nitrogen (N) deposition was between 2.8 and 13.8 kg ha⁻¹ per year, of which 41–67% was nitrate (NO₃-N). Over the period of record, SO₄ concentration in deposition decreased in 13/14 (13 out of 14 total) regions and SO₄ in runoff decreased at 14/17 catchments. In contrast, NO₃-N concentrations in deposition decreased in only 1/14 regions, while NH₄-N concentration patterns varied; increasing at 3/14 regions and decreasing at 2/14 regions. Nitrate concentrations in runoff decreased at 4/17 catchments and increased at only 1 site, whereas runoff levels of NH₄-N increased at 5/17 catchments. Decreasing trends in deposition were also recorded for Ca, Mg, and K at many of the catchments and on an equivalent basis, accounted for up to 131% (median 22%) of the decrease in acid anion deposition. Base cation concentrations in streams generally declined over time, with significant decreases in Ca, Mg and K occurring at 8, 9 and 7 of 17 sites respectively, which accounted for up to 133% (median 48%) of the decrease in acid anion concentration. Sulphate export exceeded input at 18/21 catchments, likely due to dry deposition and/or internal sources. The majority of N in deposition (31–100%; median 94%) was retained in the catchments, although there was a tendency for greater NO₃-N leaching at sites receiving higher (<7 kg ha^-1 per year) bulk inorganic N deposition. Mass balance calculations show that export of Ca and Mg in runoff exceeds input at all 21 catchments, but K export only exceeds input at 16/21 sites. Estimates of base cation weathering were available for 18 sites. When included in the mass balance calculation, Ca, Mg and K exports exceeded inputs at 14, 10 and 2 sites respectively. Annual Ca and Mg losses represent appreciable proportions of the current exchangeable soil Ca and Mg pools, although losses at some of the sites likely occur from weathering reactions beneath the rooting zone and there is considerable uncertainty associated with mineral weathering estimates. Critical loads for sulphur (S) and N, using a critical base cation to aluminium ratio of 10 in soil solution, are currently exceeded at 7 of the 18 sites with base cation weathering estimates. Despite reductions in SO₄ and H⁺ deposition, mass balance estimates indicate that acid deposition continues to acidify soils in many regions with losses of Ca and Mg of primary concern. The U.S. Government's right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty free licence in and to any copyright is acknowledged. The Canadian Crown reserves the right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty free licence in and to any copyright.     

The Impact of Landsat Satellite Monitoring on Conservation Biology

Landsat 7s recent malfunctioning will result in significant gaps in long-term satellite monitoring of Earth, affecting not only the research of the Earth science community but also conservation users of these data. To determine whether or how important Landsat monitoring is for conservation and natural resource management, we reviewed the Landsat programs history with special emphasis on the development of user groups. We also conducted a bibliographic search to determine the extent to which conservation research has been based on Landsat data. Conservation biologists were not an early user group of Landsat data because a) biologists lacked technical capacity – computers and software – to analyze these data; b) Landsats 1980s commercialization rendered images too costly for biologists budgets; and c) the broad-scale disciplines of conservation biology and landscape ecology did not develop until the mid-to-late 1980s. All these conditions had changed by the 1990s and Landsat imagery became an important tool for conservation biology. Satellite monitoring and Landsat continuity are mandated by the Land Remote Sensing Act of 1992. This legislation leaves open commercial options. However, past experiments with commercial operations were neither viable nor economical, and severely reduced the quality of monitoring, archiving and data access for academia and the public. Future satellite monitoring programs are essential for conservation and natural resource management, must provide continuity with Landsat, and should be government operated.     

Interlaboratory evaluation of endotoxin analyses in agricultural dusts--comparison of LAL assay and mass spectrometry

Endotoxin exposure is associated with wheeze and asthma morbidity, while early life exposure may reduce risk of allergy and asthma. Unfortunately, it is difficult to compare endotoxin results from different laboratories and environments. We undertook this study to determine if lipopolysaccharide (LPS) extraction efficiency could account for differences among laboratories. We generated and collected aerosols from chicken and swine barns, and corn processing. We randomly allocated side-by-side filter samples to five laboratories for Limulus assay of endotoxin. Lyophilized aliquots of filter extracts were analyzed for 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OHFAs) as a marker of LPS using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. There were significant differences in endotoxin assay and GC-MS (LPS) results between laboratories for all dust types (p < 0.01). Patterns of differences between labs varied by dust type. Relationships between assay and GC/MS results also depended on dust type. The percentages of individual 3-OHFA chain lengths varied across labs (p < 0.0001) suggesting that each lab recovered a different fraction of the LPS available. The presence of large amounts of particle associated LPS and absence of a freezing thawing cycle were associated with lower correlations between LPS and bioactivity, consistent with an absence of Limulus response to cell-bound endotoxin. These data suggest that extraction methods affect endotoxin measurements. The LAL methods may be most suitable when comparing exposures within similar environments; GC-MS offers additional information helpful in optimizing sample treatment and extraction. GC-MS may be of use when comparing across heterogeneous environments and should be considered for inclusion in future studies of human health outcomes.     

Spatial modelling of the probability of obtaining a detectable concentration of ammonia in Moreton Bay, Australia

Ammonia is an important water quality variable, which in excess, can be detrimental to waterways and their ecosystems. In the Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program in South-east Queensland ammonia is monitored monthly, however, often more than 50% of the ammonia observations in Moreton Bay are below detection limit, making it difficult to draw useful inferences. In this paper a clipped Gaussian random field is used to spatially model and map the probability of detectable concentration of ammonia. The methodology is applied to the Moreton Bay samples collected in February 2005. The results suggest that for this month the oceanic impacted areas have higher probability of detectable ammonia concentration than the areas closer to the main sources of anthropogenic inputs.     

Characterization of humic-rich hydrocolloids and their metal species by means of competing ligand and metal exchange--an on-site approach

An improved on-site characterization of humic-rich hydrocolloids and their metal species in aquatic environments was the goal of the present approach. Both ligand exchange with extreme chelators (diethylenetetraaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), ethylendiaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)) and metal exchange with strongly competitive cations (Cu(II) were used on-site to characterize the conditional stability and availability of colloidal metal species in a humic-rich German bogwater lake (Venner Moor, Münsterland). A mobile time-controlled tangential-flow ultrafiltration technique (cut-off: 1 kDa) was applied to differentiate operationally between colloidal metal species and free metal ions, respectively. DOC (dissolved organic carbon) and metal determinations were carried out off-site using a home-built carbon analyzer and conventional ICP-OES (inductively-coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry), respectively. From the metal exchange equilibria obtained on-site the kinetic and thermodynamic stability of the original metal species (Fe, Mn, Zn) could be characterized. Conditional exchange constants Kex obtained from aquatic metal species and competitive Cu(II) ions follow the order Mn > Zn > > Fe. Obviously, Mn and Zn bound to humic-rich hydrocolloids are very strongly competed by Cu(II) ions, in contrast to Fe which is scarcely exchangeable. The exchange of aquatic metal species (e.g. Fe) by DTPA/EDTA exhibited relatively slow kinetics but rather high metal availabilities, in contrast to their Cu(II) exchange.