Internationale Studie zur Unternehmenssteuerung und zum Umweltmanagement: Eine Auswertung erster Ergebnisse

Das Controlling übernimmt in Unternehmen die Aufgabe, die langfristige Existenz des Unternehmens zu sichern und kurzfristig die Ziele der Gewinnerzielung und der Liquiditätssicherung zu erreichen. In Zeiten der zunehmenden Bedeutung von Nachhaltigkeit tritt neben die ökonomische die ökologische und soziale Nachhaltigkeit im Sinne der sogenannten Triple Bottom Line. Daher widmet sich unsere internationale Studie explizit der Beziehung von Unternehmenssteuerung und Umweltmanagement in Bezug auf Nachhaltigkeit. Der vorliegende Auswertungsbericht fasst erste deskriptive Ergebnisse dieser Studie, bei der die 2.500 größten Unternehmen in Deutschland im Jahr 2015 befragt wurden, zusammen.:Abbildungsverzeichnis Tabellenverzeichnis Abkürzungsverzeichnis 1 Einleitung 1.1 Zielsetzung 1.2 Aufbau und Auswertungsmethodik 2 Grundkonzepte des Controllings und des Umweltmanagements 2.1 Konzeption des Controllings 2.1.1 Levers of Control von Simons (1995) 2.1.2 Objects of Control von Merchant und Van der Stede (2012) 2.2 Konzeption des Umweltmanagements 2.2.1 Ökologieorientiertes Controlling 2.2.2 Instrumente des ökologieorientierten Rechnungswesens 2.3 Zielgrößen der Unternehmenssteuerung und des Umweltmanagements 2.3.1 Unternehmenserfolg 2.3.2 Innovationsleistung 2.4 Einflussfaktoren der Unternehmenssteuerung und des Umweltmanagements 2.4.1 Strategietypen 2.4.2 Umfeldunsicherheiten 2.4.3 Länderkultur 2.4.4 Unternehmenskultur 2.4.5 Stakeholder 3 Datenerhebung 3.1 Charakterisierung der Grundgesamtheit 3.2 Ablauf der Datenerhebung 3.3 Zusammenfassung des Fragebogenrücklaufs 4 Empirische Ergebnisse zur Unternehmenssteuerung 4.1 Wettbewerbsstrategie 4.2 Integration von Unternehmenssteuerung und Umweltmanagement 4.3 Trends im Controlling und im Umweltmanagement 4.4 Leistungsmessung und Kontrolle 4.5 Steuerung von Maßnahmen und Aktivitäten 4.6 Mitarbeiterführung 4.7 Werte und Normen 4.8 Administrative Innovationen 4.9 Organisationale Innovationen in Arbeits- und Ablaufprozessen 4.10 Produkt- und Prozessinnovationen 4.11 Veränderungen im Unternehmensumfeld 4.12 Unternehmenskultur 4.13 Unternehmenserfolg 4.14 Effektivität der strategischen Planung 5 Empirische Ergebnisse zum Umweltmanagement 5.1 Umweltmanagementsystem und Berichterstattung 5.2 Bedeutung von Stakeholdern 5.3 Umweltmanagement 5.4 Werte und Normen 5.5 Umweltinformationssystem 5.6 Umweltbezogene Entscheidungsfindungsprozesse 5.7 Öko-Controlling 5.8 Analyse von Materialflüssen 5.9 Umweltleistung 5.10 Nutzung von Umweltkennzahlen 5.11 Mitarbeiterführung 5.12 Steuerung von umweltbezogenen Leistungszielen 5.13 Leistungsmessung und Kontrolle 5.14 Bedeutung von Umweltaspekten für Lieferanten 5.15 Lieferantenbeziehungen 5.16 Hemmnisse für eine ökologieorientierte Wertschöpfungskette 6 Management Summary Literaturverzeichni

Mind the gut:Genomic insights to population divergence and gut microbial composition of two marine keystone species

BACKGROUND: Deciphering the mechanisms governing population genetic divergence and local adaptation across heterogeneous environments is a central theme in marine ecology and conservation. While population divergence and ecological adaptive potential are classically viewed at the genetic level, it has recently been argued that their microbiomes may also contribute to population genetic divergence. We explored whether this might be plausible along the well-described environmental gradient of the Baltic Sea in two species of sand lance (Ammodytes tobianus and Hyperoplus lanceolatus). Specifically, we assessed both their population genetic and gut microbial composition variation and investigated not only which environmental parameters correlate with the observed variation, but whether host genome also correlates with microbiome variation. RESULTS: We found a clear genetic structure separating the high-salinity North Sea from the low-salinity Baltic Sea sand lances. The observed genetic divergence was not simply a function of isolation by distance, but correlated with environmental parameters, such as salinity, sea surface temperature, and, in the case of A. tobianus, possibly water microbiota. Furthermore, we detected two distinct genetic groups in Baltic A. tobianus that might represent sympatric spawning types. Investigation of possible drivers of gut microbiome composition variation revealed that host species identity was significantly correlated with the microbial community composition of the gut. A potential influence of host genetic factors on gut microbiome composition was further confirmed by the results of a constrained analysis of principal coordinates. The host genetic component was among the parameters that best explain observed variation in gut microbiome composition. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings have relevance for the population structure of two commercial species but also provide insights into potentially relevant genomic and microbial factors with regards to sand lance adaptation across the North Sea-Baltic Sea environmental gradient. Furthermore, our findings support the hypothesis that host genetics may play a role in regulating the gut microbiome at both the interspecific and intraspecific levels. As sequencing costs continue to drop, we anticipate that future studies that include full genome and microbiome sequencing will be able to explore the full relationship and its potential adaptive implications for these species

Absence of photophysiological response to iron addition in autumn phytoplankton in the Antarctic sea-ice zone

he high nutrient–low chlorophyll condition of the Southern Ocean is generally thought to be caused by the low bioavailability of micronutrients, particularly iron, which plays an integral role in phytoplankton photosynthesis. Nevertheless, the Southern Ocean experiences seasonal blooms that generally initiate in austral spring, peak in summer, and extend into autumn. This seasonal increase in primary productivity is typically linked to the seasonal characteristics of nutrient and light supply. To better understand the potential limitations on productivity in the Antarctic sea-ice zone (SIZ), the photophysiological response of phytoplankton to iron addition (2.0 nM FeCl3) was investigated during autumn along the Antarctic coast off Dronning Maud Land. Five short-term (24 h) incubation experiments were conducted around Astrid Ridge (68∘ S) and along a 6∘ E transect, where an autumn bloom was identified in the region of the western SIZ. Surface iron concentrations ranged from 0.27 to 1.39 nM around Astrid Ridge, and 0.56 to 0.63 nM along the 6∘ E transect. Contrary to expectation, the photophysiological response of phytoplankton to iron addition, measured through the photosynthetic efficiency and the absorption cross-section for photosystem II, showed no significant responses. It is thus proposed that since the autumn phytoplankton in the SIZ exhibited a lack of an iron limitation at the time of sampling, the ambient iron concentrations may have been sufficient to fulfil the cellular requirements. This provides new insights into extended iron replete post-bloom conditions in the typically assumed iron deficient high nutrient–low chlorophyll Southern Ocea

Energy or information? The role of seed availability for reproductive decisions in edible dormice

The edible dormouse is a specialized seed predator which is highly adapted to the fluctuations of food availability caused by mast seeding of beech and oak trees. Dormice produce young just in time with maximum food availability, and can completely skip reproduction in years with a lack of seeding. Because their decision to reproduce or not in any particular year is made long before the ripe seeds are available, it seems that dormice can anticipate the upcoming mast situation. We tested the hypothesis that the presence of high caloric food in spring affects their reproductive decision. Therefore, we supplementary fed dormice in a field experiment from spring to early summer with sunflower seeds, which also contain a high amount of energy. Supplemental feeding caused significant increases in the proportion of reproducing females and reproductively active males. These results suggest that edible dormice may use the occurrence of an energy rich food resource to predict the autumnal mast situation. Further, our data indicate that the decision to reproduce was not the result of an increased body mass due to the consumption of surplus food, but that sufficient seed abundance acts as an environmental signal to which dormice adjust their reproduction

Female-Biased Dispersal and Gene Flow in a Behaviorally Monogamous Mammal, the Large Treeshrew (Tupaia tana)

Background: Female-biased dispersal (FBD) is predicted to occur in monogamous species due to local resource competition among females, but evidence for this association in mammals is scarce. The predicted relationship between FBD and monogamy may also be too simplistic, given that many pair-living mammals exhibit substantial extra-pair paternity. Methodology/Principal Findings: I examined whether dispersal and gene flow are female-biased in the large treeshrew (Tupaia tana) in Borneo, a behaviorally monogamous species with a genetic mating system characterized by high rates (50%) of extra-pair paternity. Genetic analyses provided evidence of FBD in this species. As predicted for FBD, I found lower mean values for the corrected assignment index for adult females than for males using seven microsatellite loci, indicating that female individuals were more likely to be immigrants. Adult female pairs were also less related than adult male pairs. Furthermore, comparison of Bayesian coalescent-based estimates of migration rates using maternally and bi-parentally inherited genetic markers suggested that gene flow is female-biased in T. tana. The effective number of migrants between populations estimated from mitochondrial DNA sequence was three times higher than the number estimated using autosomal microsatellites. Conclusions/Significance: These results provide the first evidence of FBD in a behaviorally monogamous species without mating fidelity. I argue that competition among females for feeding territories creates a sexual asymmetry in the costs an

Descent toward the icehouse: Eocene sea surface cooling inferred from GDGT distributions

The TEX86 proxy, based on the distribution of marine isoprenoidal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipids (GDGTs), is increasingly used to reconstruct sea surface temperature (SST) during the Eocene epoch (56.0–33.9 Ma). Here we compile published TEX86 records, critically reevaluate them in light of new understandings in TEX86 palaeothermometry, and supplement them with new data in order to evaluate long-term temperature trends in the Eocene. We investigate the effect of archaea other than marine Thaumarchaeota upon TEX86 values using the branched-to-isoprenoid tetraether index (BIT), the abundance of GDGT-0 relative to crenarchaeol (%GDGT-0), and the Methane Index (MI). We also introduce a new ratio, % GDGTRS, which may help identify Red Sea-type GDGT distributions in the geological record. Using the offset between TEX86H and TEX86L(ΔH-L) and the ratio between GDGT-2 and GDGT-3 ([2]/[3]), we evaluate different TEX86 calibrations and present the first integrated SST compilation for the Eocene (55 to 34 Ma). Although the available data are still sparse some geographic trends can now be resolved. In the high latitudes (>55°), there was substantial cooling during the Eocene (~6°C). Our compiled record also indicates tropical cooling of ~2.5°C during the same interval. Using an ensemble of climate model simulations that span the Eocene, our results indicate that only a small percentage (~10%) of the reconstructed temperature change can be ascribed to ocean gateway reorganization or paleogeographic change. Collectively, this indicates that atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO2) was the likely driver of surface water cooling during the descent toward the icehouse

Rickettsia Phylogenomics: Unwinding the Intricacies of Obligate Intracellular Life

BACKGROUND: Completed genome sequences are rapidly increasing for Rickettsia, obligate intracellular alpha-proteobacteria responsible for various human diseases, including epidemic typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. In light of phylogeny, the establishment of orthologous groups (OGs) of open reading frames (ORFs) will distinguish the core rickettsial genes and other group specific genes (class 1 OGs or C1OGs) from those distributed indiscriminately throughout the rickettsial tree (class 2 OG or C2OGs). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We present 1823 representative (no gene duplications) and 259 non-representative (at least one gene duplication) rickettsial OGs. While the highly reductive (approximately 1.2 MB) Rickettsia genomes range in predicted ORFs from 872 to 1512, a core of 752 OGs was identified, depicting the essential Rickettsia genes. Unsurprisingly, this core lacks many metabolic genes, reflecting the dependence on host resources for growth and survival. Additionally, we bolster our recent reclassification of Rickettsia by identifying OGs that define the AG (ancestral group), TG (typhus group), TRG (transitional group), and SFG (spotted fever group) rickettsiae. OGs for insect-associated species, tick-associated species and species that harbor plasmids were also predicted. Through superimposition of all OGs over robust phylogeny estimation, we discern between C1OGs and C2OGs, the latter depicting genes either decaying from the conserved C1OGs or acquired laterally. Finally, scrutiny of non-representative OGs revealed high levels of split genes versus gene duplications, with both phenomena confounding gene orthology assignment. Interestingly, non-representative OGs, as well as OGs comprised of several gene families typically involved in microbial pathogenicity and/or the acquisition of virulence factors, fall predominantly within C2OG distributions. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Collectively, we determined the relative conservation and distribution of 14354 predicted ORFs from 10 rickettsial genomes across robust phylogeny estimation. The data, available at PATRIC (PathoSystems Resource Integration Center), provide novel information for unwinding the intricacies associated with Rickettsia pathogenesis, expanding the range of potential diagnostic, vaccine and therapeutic targets