Evaluation of trajectories calculated from ecmwf data against constant volume balloon flights during etex

This paper validates trajectories calculated from ECMWF analyses against the tracks of constant volume balloons (CVBs) released during the European tracer experiment (ETEX). The altitudes of the calculated trajectories were adjusted to the altitudes of the respective balloons in short intervals to allow direct comparisons. The agreement between the calculated trajectories and the balloon tracks was very good for the first experiment (individual errors from 1 to 26%, average 15%), and excellent (errors from 2 to 11%, average 6%) for the second one. The agreement for the second experiment was probably partly better because the CVBs travelled above the planetary boundary layer, but the small errors also indicate that the ECMWF fields of the horizontal wind were of exceptionally good quality in the second experiment. This is in sharp contrast to the results of the dispersion models which all failed in the prediction of the perfluorocarbon tracer dispersion for the second experiment. A likely explanation for this is that vertical motions, possibly on small scales, were not correctly captured by the ECMWF analyses, but it is not possible to clarify this with the CVB data.     

Experimental evidence for the effects of task repetitiveness on mental strain and objective work performance

People frequently have to work in high repetitive jobs. Previous research has focused exclusively on the effects of task repetitiveness on well‐being, while neglecting effects on work performance. In the present study, we aimed to fill this void by conducting two workplace simulations with experimental manipulations of task repetitiveness. Participants worked for about 5 hours at either a computer workstation, compiling computer hardware packages according to customer requests (Experiment 1, N = 160), or at an assembly line, piecing together equipment sets for furniture (Experiment 2, N = 213). Both experiments provide consistent evidence that high repetitiveness has a detrimental effect on well‐being, whereas work performance increases under conditions of high repetitiveness. On a practical level, our study hence shows that high task repetitiveness is a double‐edged sword for both employees and organizations. On a conceptual level, our findings emphasize the necessity to account for both mental strain and work performance when examining the effects of task repetitiveness. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photocrosslinking of an Acrylated Epoxidized Linseed Oil: Kinetics and its Application for Optimized Wood Coatings

Over the past few decades, the industry developed an increasing interest in using renewable, bio-based thermosetting polymers as matrix systems for composites and coating systems. In the present paper an acrylated epoxidized linseed oil (AELO) was synthesized from epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) through ring opening of the oxirane group using acrylic acid as the ring opening agent. The synthesized AELO was mixed with three different photoinitiators and cured under monochromatic conditions (???=?365?nm) at different light intensities and at different temperatures. The concentration of the initiators was aligned that all initiators absorb at 365?nm the same amount of light. The evolution of cure was monitored by using real-time infrared spectroscopy with a heated attenuated total reflection unit. The decrease of absorption in the measured spectra at 1,406?cm^?1 was used to calculate the conversion of acrylic double bonds with increasing time of UV light exposure to get information about the cure kinetics for each AELO mixture at different light intensities and different temperatures. Wood substrates were coated in a preliminary work with the AELO mixtures and after UV-curing some technological coating properties like gloss, scratch resistance, adhesion, and solvent resistance were tested. In combination with the information about the cure kinetics in the present work the coating properties were correlated with the cure evolution and the final degree of double bond conversion. The found correlation can be used in the future to find optimized coating conditions for the AELO mixtures on wood substrates.     

The smell of desperadoes? Beavers distinguish between dominant and subordinate intruders

Olfactory signals can contain information, such as age and social status, and play a vital role in competitor assessment. In many territorial species, subordinates must leave their natal colony to obtain their own territory and mate. These individuals could be aggressive opponents in agonistic encounters, as they will have little to lose (the desperado effect). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that dominance and age are coded in the anal gland secretion (AGS) of the monogamous and highly territorial Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber), and if this information is used by conspecifics to evaluate the potential threat posed by an intruder. Territorial intrusions were simulated by presenting residents with a two-way choice test of AGS from an unknown male territory owner (i.e., dominant) and his son (i.e., subordinate; either 1 or ≥2 years old). Residents spent more time investigating AGS from subordinates than their fathers and responded more aggressively to subordinates than their fathers when subordinates were ≥2 years old. Chemical analyses gas chromatography and multivariate data analysis supported our behavioral findings and revealed differences between chemical profiles of territory owners and subordinates, as well as between the subordinates in different age classes. This study reveals that information about age and social status is coded in AGS of beavers and that this information is used to determine the level of an eventual future response to the signaler.     

Future ocean acidification will be amplified by hypoxia in coastal habitats

Ocean acidification is elicited by anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and resulting oceanic uptake of excess CO₂ and might constitute an abiotic stressor powerful enough to alter marine ecosystem structures. For surface waters in gas-exchange equilibrium with the atmosphere, models suggest increases in CO₂ partial pressure (pCO₂) from current values of ca. 390 μatm to ca. 700–1,000 μatm by the end of the century. However, in typically unequilibrated coastal hypoxic regions, much higher pCO₂ values can be expected, as heterotrophic degradation of organic material is necessarily related to the production of CO₂ (i.e., dissolved inorganic carbon). Here, we provide data and estimates that, even under current conditions, maximum pCO₂ values of 1,700–3,200 μatm can easily be reached when all oxygen is consumed at salinities between 35 and 20, respectively. Due to the nonlinear nature of the carbonate system, the approximate doubling of seawater pCO₂ in surface waters due to ocean acidification will most strongly affect coastal hypoxic zones as pCO₂ during hypoxia will increase proportionally: we calculate maximum pCO₂ values of ca. 4,500 μatm at a salinity of 20 (T = 10 °C) and ca. 3,400 μatm at a salinity of 35 (T = 10 °C) when all oxygen is consumed. Upwelling processes can bring these CO₂-enriched waters in contact with shallow water ecosystems and may then affect species performance there as well. We conclude that (1) combined stressor experiments (pCO₂ and pO₂) are largely missing at the moment and that (2) coastal ocean acidification experimental designs need to be closely adjusted to carbonate system variability within the specific habitat. In general, the worldwide spread of coastal hypoxic zones also simultaneously is a spread of CO₂-enriched zones. The magnitude of expected changes in pCO₂ in these regions indicates that coastal systems may be more endangered by future global climate change than previously thought.     

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.     

Temporal patterns of populations in a warming world: a modelling framework

In this paper, we present an approach for describing the environmentally induced temporal pattern of structured populations by partial integro-differential equations. Populations are structured according to size or stage. Growth, energy allocation and stage transitions are affected by environmental conditions of which temperature, photoperiod, water depth and food supply were taken into account. The resulting modelling framework was applied to describe, analyse and predict alterations in populations with continuous development, populations with distinct state structures and interacting populations. Our exemplary applications consider populations of freshwater Amphipoda, Isopoda and Odonata. The model was capable of simulating life cycle alterations in dependence on temperature in interaction with other environmental factors: (1) population dynamics, (2) seasonal regulation, (3) water depth-dependent dispersal, (4) intraguild predation and (5) consumer-resource dynamics.     

Planning and implementing sustainability in higher education institutions: an overview of the difficulties and potentials

Planning in sustainable development is believed to be an important element in allowing higher education institutions to set their goals and to commit themselves towards undertaking concrete actions and measures at all levels in order to implement sustainability. Yet, there is a paucity of research that has looked at the extent to which planning can support institutions of higher education to assess their performances and to determine whether the set aims have been met. This research gap needs to be met to allow a better understanding of how planning can help to promote the integration of the three components of sustainable development – economic development, social development and environmental protection in higher education. This paper explores the challenges for planning the sustainable development in higher education, also outlining the potentials lessons learned that could assist in improving Education for Sustainable Development efforts in Higher Education Institutions. Among its main results are the fact that many universities wish to pursue sustainable development, but their efforts are hindered by lack of institutional support and planning and limited emphasis on approaches, such as problem-based learning. The universities that are engaged in the field have to face many problems, varying from limited resources to lack of trained staff. As a result, integrated approaches to sustainability become difficult to implement. Finally, the paper has identified the fact that many opportunities offered mainstream developments, such as the UN Declaration ‘The World we Want’ or the UN Sustainable Development Goals are not being put to full use.     

Limits of Concern: suggestions for the operationalisation of a concept to determine the relevance of adverse effects in the ERA of GMOs

Background

The European Food Safety Authority proposed a concept for the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants in the EU that is based on the definition of thresholds for the acceptability of potential adverse effects on the environment. This concept, called Limits of Concern (LoC), needs to be further refined to be implemented in the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified organisms.

Methods

We analyse and discuss how LoC can be defined for the environmental risk assessment for three different types of genetically modified plants. We outline protection goals relevant to the genetically modified plants in question and discuss existing concepts and suggestions for acceptability thresholds from the environmental risk assessment of different regulatory areas. We make specific recommendations for the setting and use of LoC for each type of genetically modified plant.

Results

The LoC concept can be suitably applied for the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified organisms, if the different protection goals in agro-environments are specifically considered. Not only biodiversity protection goals but also agricultural protection goals need to be addressed. The different ecosystem services provided by weeds inside and outside agricultural fields have to be considered for genetically modified herbicide-tolerant crops. Exposure-based LoCs are suggested based on knowledge about dose–effect relationships between maize pollen and non-target Lepidoptera for insect-resistant maize. Due to the long-term nature of biological processes such as spread and establishment, LoCs for genetically modified oilseed rape should be defined for the presence of the genetically modified plant or its genetically modified traits in relevant protection goals.

Conclusions

When setting LoCs, the focus should be on protection goals which are possibly affected. Potential overlaps of the LoC concept with the ecosystem service concept have to be clarified to harmonise protection levels in the agro-environment for different stressors. If additional impacts on agro-biodiversity resulting from the cultivation of genetically modified plants are to be avoided, then high protection levels and low thresholds for acceptable effects (i.e. LoC) should be set.

     

Biomass, diversity and production of rocky shore macroalgae at two nutrient enrichment and wave action levels

The littoral zone of temperate rocky shores is normally dominated by perennial macroalgae (e.g. Fucus, Ascophyllum, Laminaria), but nutrient enrichment and/or permanently decreased wave action may lead to structural community changes from dominance of perennials to increased amounts of annual opportunistic species (mainly green algae). Macroalgal biomass, diversity and production as well as relationships between the two latter were studied using Solbergstrand’s rocky shore mesocosms in SE Norway in connection with a long-term experimental manipulation of nutrient addition and wave action (high and low levels of both factors applied in a crossed way to eight outdoor basins). After more than 2 years of experimental treatment, the total standing stock of macroalgae was larger in low nutrient than in high nutrient treatments as well as in high wave compared to low wave treatments (in autumn only). For macroalgal functional groups, bushy and filamentous brown and filamentous red algae were generally favoured by low nutrient concentrations, while annual filamentous and sheet-like green algae were stimulated by the nutrient enrichment. There was only one significant interaction between nutrient enrichment and wave action (for brown filamentous algae in autumn) and also only one significant main effect of the wave treatment (for bushy brown algae in autumn). Surprisingly, the high nutrient treatments supported a higher diversity of macroalgae, whereas the low nutrient treatments generally showed higher production rates. Moreover, significantly negative correlations were found between macroalgal diversity and primary productivity in both summer and autumn. This study shows that it is the biological components of the communities subjected to external forcing (nutrient addition or decreased wave action) that regulate production and this contradicts the common misperception that resource production in natural systems simply can be fast-forwarded by fertilization. The negative relationships between diversity and productivity, although a consequence of unexpected results for diversity and production, are also novel and hint towards species identities having more important functional consequences than general species dominance patterns and the amount of species per se. These results also emphasise the context dependency of findings within the field of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.