Business for ocean sustainability: Early responses of ocean governance in the private sector

A large sample of 1664 companies—69 directly working in the ocean economy—distributed across 19 industrial sectors was investigated to explore awareness and activation regarding direct and indirect pressures on the ocean, their responses to these pressures, and the disclosure tools used. We examined their accountability and disclosure practices on sustainable development goals (SDGs) using the drivers, pressures, state, welfare, and response accounting framework. Based on their 2019 sustainability reports, just 7% of the companies assessed disclosed on SDG14. However, 51% of these companies can be considered as aware, albeit to varying degrees, of the pressures their industries place on the oceans, 44% deploy mitigating activities, and 26% are aware and actively lead business responses to ocean challenges. Although we have seen just early responses in addressing ocean challenges, companies’ awareness and activation must converge to achieve ocean sustainability and move businesses into a truly blue economy.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-022-01784-2.     

Industrial relations,worksite stress reduction,and employee well-being: A participatory action research investigation

The workplace has become the locus of many stress management and stress reduction interventions. However, little attention has focused on how worksite factors affect the implementation and impact of such interventions. In this paper, we investigate the effect of new versus traditional industrial relations practices on the impact of a worksite stress reduction program in a manufacturing setting. More specifically, a participatory action research (PAR) stress project is described and evaluated in two different labor–management relations contexts. One organization is characterized by the emerging ’new‘ industrial relations system where labor–management relations incorporate elements of joint problem-solving. The other organization has a more traditional approach where labor–management relations are formally adversarial. Results indicate that the labor–management relations context did influence the impact of the stress project. Involvement in the PAR stress project enhanced employee participation in decision-making in both contexts. However, involvement in the stress project enhanced employees' perceptions of the climate for participation only in the organization with more cooperative industrial relations. Increases in coworker support and decreases in depressive symptoms were associated with involvement in the PAR stress project in the organization with more adversarial industrial relations.     

Microplastic distribution in surface sediments along the Spanish Mediterranean continental shelf

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microplastics (MPs) are widely recognised as a contaminant of emerging concern in the marine environment. This work provides original data of the...     

Estimating baseline carbon emissions for the Eastern Panama Canal watershed

To participate in the potential market for carbon credits based on changes in the use and management of the land, one needs to identify opportunities and implement land-use based emissions reductions or sequestration projects. A key requirement of land-based carbon (C) projects is that any activity developed for generating C benefits must be additional to business-as-usual. A rule-based model was developed and used that estimates changes in land-use and subsequent carbon emissions over the next twenty years using the Eastern Panama Canal Watershed (EPCW) as a case study. These projections of changes in C stocks serve as a baseline to identify where opportunities exist for implementing projects to generate potential C credits and to position Panama to be able to participate in the emerging C market by developing a baseline under scenarios of business-as-usual and new-road development. The projections show that the highest percent change in land use for the new-road scenario compared to the business-as-usual scenario is for urban areas, and the greatest cause of C emission is from deforestation. Thus, the most effective way to reduce C emissions to the atmosphere in the EPCW is by reducing deforestation. In addition to affecting C emissions, reducing deforestation would also protect the soil and water resources of the EPCW. Yet, under the current framework of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), only credits arising from reforestation are allowed, which after 20 years of plantation establishment are not enough to offset the C emissions from the ongoing, albeit small, rate of deforestation in the EPCW. The study demonstrates the value of spatial regional projections of changes in land cover and C stocks: The approach helps a country identify its potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emission liabilities into the future and provides opportunity for the country to plan alternative development pathways. It could be used by potential project developers to identify which types of projects will generate the largest C benefits and provide the needed baseline against which a project is then evaluated. Spatial baselines, such as those presented here, can be used by governments to help identify development goals. The development of such a baseline, and its expansion to other vulnerable areas, well positions Panama to respond to the future market demand for C offsets. It is useful to compare the projected change in land cover under the business-as-usual scenario to the goals set by Law 21 for the year 2020. Suggested next steps for analysis includeusing the modeling approach to exploreland-use, C dynamics and management ofsecondary forests and plantations, soilC gains or losses, sources ofvariability in the land use and Cstock projections, and other ecologicalimplications and feedbacks resulting fromprojected changes in land cover.     

Alpha-fetoprotein and acetylcholinesterase in twins discordant for neural tube defect

Twins concordant for elevated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and discordant for neural tube defect (NTD) and sex are reported. A literature review reveals instances of termination of twin pregnancies with one normal and one abnormal fetus, partly based on concordant high AFP and positive AChE (although discordant on ultrasound examination). The levels of AFP and AChE in twin pregnancies are probably a function of the number of layers of fetal membranes separating twin sacs: dichorionic, diamniotic membranes allow transfer of AFP; monochorionic, diamniotic membranes allow transfer of both AFP and AChE. Cautious interpretation of biochemical findings and reliance on high resolution ultrasonography are suggested.     

Gene flow in house mice: Behavior in a population cage

Summary The social behavior of house mice captured from natural populations was studied in an enclosure. Six replicate experiments with observations totalling 344 h were done to contrast the behavior of outbreeders, individuals that have progeny by interdemic reproduction; inbreeders, individuals that have progeny by intrademic reproduction; and nonbreeders. The frequency of outbreeding was also determined.In each replicate, two male and three female commensal house mice, Mus musculus, homozygous for the same allele at the hemoglobin locus, Hbb ^s , were put in half of a population cage. A barrier separated this deme from another deme homozygous for the alternative allele, Hbb^d. The barrier was removed after a month and each experiment continued for a further two months with daily observations.In five of six experiments, the mice from both demes formed one social group and in the sixth experiment, the mice remained in their original demes. In two experiments, outbreeding occurred: females from one deme produced offspring by males from the other deme. In three experiments, inbreeding occurred: females produced offspring by males from the same deme. Soon after the demes had formed one social group in these three experiments, the remaining male in a deme was killed and the experiment terminated; females without a male readily join other demes. The pattern of breeding resulted in a genetically effective size, N _e , that was approximately half of the maximum N _e obtainable with random mating. The social organization of house mice, although structured and characterized by male territoriality, presents no major barrier to gene flow within populations.Affiliative (mount, allogroom, follow) and agonistic (fight, chase, attack) behavior occurring when the barrier was present had no predictive value in determining which mice would be outbreeders. With the barrier absent, outbreeders were the recipients of more affiliative behavior than inbreeders. Male outbreeders initiated more agonistic behavior than inbreeders. Outbreeders engaged in more interdemic affiliative behavior than inbreeders.Contribution no. 362 from the Department of Ecology and Evolution at SUNY, Stony Brook     

Optical characterization of primary productivity across a coastal front

Methods for the remote estimation of phytoplankton biomass and production rates using multiplatform sampling strategies are essential for the better understanding of oceanic bio-geochemical cycles. Recent advances in remote sensing of ocean color have made synoptic estimation of phytoplankton biomass attainable. While considerable success has been achieved in the estimation of plant biomass, the synoptic estimation of phytoplankton rates of production has been inadequate. Rapid shipboard estimates of the vertical distribution of primary productivity, on mesoscale spatial scales and event-time scales, are needed to provide both surface validation and data for the development of bio-optical models linking production to the optical characteristics of the water column. This study details the primary productivity and optical properties of a frontal region in July 1985 along 35°50N in the Southern California Bight which is shown to be consistent with the concurrent high-performance liquid-chromatography pigment-analysis. We describe here a quasi-synoptic shipboard bio-optical sampling strategy across a frontal region as an example of time-corrected data for assessing phytoplankton production in highly variable ocean regions.     

The behavioral response of female Nuttall's White-crowned Sparrows to male song of natal and alien dialects

Summary Female Nuttall's White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli) were tested in a laboratory experiment to determine their response to stimulation by songs from their natal dialect (Clear) and by songs from three different alien dialects (Fig. 1). The greatest number of copulation solicitation displays and amount of locomotor activity were caused by songs of the subject's natal dialect (Clear); the next most potent stimulus was the contiguously adjacent dialect (Buzzy); the least effective stimuli were songs from a dialect 25 km distant (McClure), representing the same non-migratory subspecies, and a dialect 1,900 km distant (Sand Creek), representing a migratory montane subspecies of White-crowned Sparrow (Figs. 2–4).These results constitute a test of a deduction made from the assortative mating theory and suggest that female White-crowned Sparrows find male song of their natal dialect sexually more stimulating. Thus, speculating about the natural circumstances, females given an unrestricted choice would be expected to mate with males from their natal dialect region.     

Accumulation of anticoagulant rodenticides in a non-target insectivore, the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)

Studies on exposure of non-targets to anticoagulant rodenticides have largely focussed on predatory birds and mammals; insectivores have rarely been studied. We investigated the exposure of 120 European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) from throughout Britain to first- and second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (FGARs and SGARs) using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection (HPLC) and liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS). The proportion of hedgehogs with liver SGAR concentrations detected by HPLC was 3-13% per compound, 23% overall. LCMS identified much higher prevalence for difenacoum and bromadiolone, mainly because of greater ability to detect low-level contamination. The overall proportion of hedgehogs with LCMS-detected residues was 57.5% (SGARs alone) and 66.7% (FGARs and SGARs combined); 27 (22.5%) hedgehogs contained >1 rodenticide. Exposure of insectivores and predators to anticoagulant rodenticides appears to be similar. The greater sensitivity of LCMS suggests that hitherto exposure of non-targets is likely to have been under-estimated using HPLC techniques.     

Communicating About Bioenergy Sustainability

Defining and measuring sustainability of bioenergy systems are difficult because the systems are complex, the science is in early stages of development, and there is a need to generalize what are inherently context-specific enterprises. These challenges, and the fact that decisions are being made now, create a need for improved communications among scientists as well as between scientists and decision makers. In order for scientists to provide information that is useful to decision makers, they need to come to an agreement on how to measure and report potential risks and benefits of diverse energy alternatives in a way that allows decision makers to compare options. Scientists also need to develop approaches that contribute information about problems and opportunities relevant to policy and decision making. The need for clear communication is especially important at this time when there is a plethora of scientific papers and reports and it is difficult for the public or decision makers to assess the merits of each analysis. We propose three communication guidelines for scientists whose work can contribute to decision making: (1) relationships between the question and the analytical approach should be clearly defined and make common sense; (2) the information should be presented in a manner that non-scientists can understand; and (3) the implications of methods, assumptions, and limitations should be clear. The scientists’ job is to analyze information to build a better understanding of environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic aspects of the sustainability of energy alternatives. The scientific process requires transparency, debate, review, and collaboration across disciplines and time. This paper serves as an introduction to the papers in the special issue on “Sustainability of Bioenergy Systems: Cradle to Grave” because scientific communication is essential to developing more sustainable energy systems. Together these four papers provide a framework under which the effects of bioenergy can be assessed and compared to other energy alternatives to foster sustainability.