On ethical leadership impact: The role of follower mindfulness and moral emotions

With the present paper, we aim to provide new conceptual insights and empirical evidence on ethical leadership contingencies: we analyze under what conditions ethical leadership can positively impact follower discretionary work behaviors (extra effort and helping). We argue that followers vary in terms of their sensitivity toward and processing of moral information, as conveyed by ethical leaders, and that these individual differences determine the strength of the link between ethical leadership and follower discretionary work behaviors. In a multisource study with 135 leader–follower dyads, we examine two prototypical examples of affective and cognitive individual differences that involve a heightened inclination toward morality: follower moral emotions and follower mindfulness. Our findings indicate that ethical leadership is more strongly related to follower extra effort and helping at higher levels of follower moral emotions and higher levels of follower mindfulness. We discuss the implications of this moral information processing perspective on ethical leadership for research and managerial practice. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assesment of Trace Elements and Organic Pollutants from a Marine Oil Complex into the Coral Reef System of Cayo Arcas, Mexico

Possible contaminants produced by the Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) marine oil complex in the vicinity of the Cayo Arcas (Mexico) coral reef ecosystem were evaluated by analyzing sediments and sea water for hydrocarbons and metal elements. We found that the concentrations of aliphatic hydrocarbons in the sea water were generally low, with the highest values detected near the oil station; the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was generally below the detection limit. The hydrocarbons found in the sediments seem to have a pyrogenic origin, and were probably produced by marine traffic in the study area. The total PAH concentration did not exceed the NOAA criteria, although levels of some individual PAHs did. The only metal detected in the sea water at high concentrations was nickel. The Ni/V ratio in the sediments indicates the contribution of crude oil to the system. The high content of Ni and Zn was attributed to the ballast waters from the oil tankers that load at the station's monobuoys. The presence of fine sediments that commonly originate from terrestrial ecosystems supported this assumption.     

Suitability of the vegetation types in Mexico's Tamaulipas state for the siting of hazardous waste treatment plants

A land suitability study was carried out by applying a multiple-criteria technique to 12 different vegetation types in Mexico's Tamaulipas state to help select potentially suitable sites for hazardous waste treatment plants. Species richness, spatial distribution, and uniqueness were selected as the criteria for estimating a vegetation type's suitability. Using the analytical hierarchy process, we ranked and mapped vegetation types, then compared the results with rankings of the same vegetation types based only on their number of endemic species. The suitabilities of the various vegetation types were ordered in more or less the same way by both methods, except in two cases for which the results were very different. The method proved to be a useful tool despite the availability of only partial (mostly qualitative) information; under such circumstances, expert experience can be incorporated in the evaluation process to a limited degree. The technique described in this paper has a high potential to aid decisions when many opinions and options must be considered simultaneously.     

Identification of realistic worst case aquatic macroinvertebrate species for prospective risk assessment using the trait concept

Purpose  

Approaches in environmental risk assessment for pesticides are becoming more and more realistic. Thereby, risk assessment has to be protective in a way that no long-lasting (adverse) effects on populations will occur in the environment. Since this imperative includes species generally showing high population vulnerability due to their life history traits, prospective risk assessment should be based on realistic worst cases. Based on life history traits, the purpose of the current study was to verify whether a worst case combination of low potential for intrinsic recovery and low ability for recolonisation can be found in the field.     

Investigation on the heavy metal content of zinc-carbon and alkaline manganese dry cells

The objective of this work was to test the compliance of commercially available batteries with the German Battery Ordinance, a project of the German government that was initiated by the Federal Environment Agency. Different types of commercially available dry cells were analysed for their cadmium, lead and mercury contents. The dry cells underwent mechanical pre-treatment, separation of the different components and microwave-assisted digestion before determination of the heavy metals. Mercury is sometimes added to prevent the generation of gaseous hydrogen from the electrochemical process. Lead could be present since it is sometimes used as an alloying element of zinc. Cadmium has no technical importance and is an undesirable impurity. None of the batteries contained higher heavy metal mass fractions than the permissible limits.     

Declining populations of freshwater pearl mussels (Margaritifera margaritifera) are burdened with heavy metals and DDT/DDE

Many aquatic mollusks, such as the freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera), are in decline throughout Europe. The reasons are largely unknown; factors that have been suggested to contribute are river bed compaction due to agricultural practices, eutrophication, or pollutants of various natures. Brittle shells of recently deceased pearl mussels from northern Bavaria with weak calcium incrustations point to the possibility that calcium metabolism is affected. It is known that certain persistent organic pollutants and some heavy metals may induce calcium deficiency in wildlife. Elevated levels of the organochlorine insecticide DDT and its metabolite DDE, as well as of cadmium and some other heavy metals, have been found in pearl mussels. Both classes of environmental pollutants are known to potentially interfere with calcium homeostasis.     

Investigation on the heavy-metal content of zinc-air button cells

Within the framework of a German government project (initiated by the Federal Environment Agency) to check the compliance of commercially available batteries with the German Battery Ordinance concerning their heavy metal contents, 18 different types of commercially available zinc-air button cells were analysed for their cadmium, lead and mercury contents. After microwave assisted dissolution with aqua regia, Cd and Pb were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and Hg was determined using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) and atomic absorption spectrometry. Cd contents were found to be much lower than the permitted limits; Pb contents were also found to be below the limits. Hg contents were found to be near the limits, and in one case the limit was exceeded.     

Non-selective signal loss in the 13C CPMAS NMR spectra of soil organic matter. Investigations of particle size fractions

In 13C cross-polarisation magic angle spinning (CPMAS) spectra of soil samples, the paramagnetic soil constituents partially discriminate against the signal intensity of the 13C atoms. The aim of the present study was to check to what extent this signal depression depends on the paramagnetic ion content and if it is selective for a certain kind of carbon species. The spectra of a variety of particle size fractions of five quite different soils were recorded. A procedure was developed to compare quantitatively the relative carbon content of the different spectra. It was found that iron ions differ in their efficiency to discriminate against the carbon signals. Nevertheless a strong linear correlation between the detectability of carbon and cube root(wt.%Fe) was observed for both the total signal and the signal of the different carbon species as well. This underlines that iron ions mainly influence the depression of the 13C signal in soil spectra. Furthermore we found, that for C: Fe ratios of 1.5 to 20 non-selective signal losses dominate. Despite a high percentage of non-detectable carbon (up to 90%), the 13C CPMAS spectra of our soil samples correctly reflect the relative composition of soil organic matter.     

Uncertainty analysis in integrated assessment: the users’ perspective

Integrated Assessment (IA) models aim at providing information- and decision-support to complex problems. This paper argues that uncertainty analysis in IA models should be user-driven in order to strengthen science–policy interaction. We suggest an approach to uncertainty analysis that starts with investigating model users’ demands for uncertainty information. These demands are called “uncertainty information needs”. Identifying model users’ uncertainty information needs allows focusing the analysis on those uncertainties which users consider relevant and meaningful. As an illustrative example, we discuss the case of examining users’ uncertainty information needs in the SEAMLESS Integrated Framework (SEAMLESS-IF), an IA model chain for assessing and comparing alternative agricultural and environmental policy options. The most important user group of SEAMLESS-IF are policy experts at the European and national level. Uncertainty information needs of this user group were examined in an interactive process during the development of SEAMLESS-IF and by using a questionnaire. Results indicate that users’ information requirements differed from the uncertainty categories considered most relevant by model developers. In particular, policy experts called for addressing a broader set of uncertainty sources (e.g. model structure and technical model setup). The findings highlight that investigating users’ uncertainty information needs is an essential step towards creating confidence in an IA model and its outcomes. This alone, however, may not be sufficient for effectively implementing a user-oriented uncertainty analysis in such models. As the case study illustrates, it requires to include uncertainty analysis into user participation from the outset of the IA modelling process.