CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: THE REPORT FROM ITALIAN COMPANIES

This is an empirical analysis of CSR initiatives in the Italian region of Campania. The aim of this study is to clarify the share’s differences in environmental protection in the overall CSR activities as well as the evaluation of the altruistic attitudes on the essence of CSR. The regression model examines the impact of investments in CSR, cost-benefit analysis and territory size on companies' interest in CSR. Campania companies have got a pronounced environmental awareness due to a significant number of national associations promoting sustainable development and easier access to EU funds. When testing the altruistic attitude on CSR, companies in Campania are closer to the profit approach. Based on the results of regression analysis, the predictor variables synergistically explain CSR interest in Campania.

Defining the territory size of a Geographical Indication

The objective of this study is to map articles that present models for determining the territory size of Geographical Indications (GIs), a relevant factor for the management of GIs that is poorly explored in studies on the subject. The study was undertaken as a systematic mapping study (SMS), whose main objective is to identify accessible facts about a given research topic, which is also the most suitable approach when aiming to analyze the state of the art of a subject with little evidence available in the literature. Using the Scopus and Web of Science databases, in which 671 results were found, and the StArt tool to select the articles, 652 articles were excluded (30 duplicates and 622 that did not meet the inclusion criteria established in the systematic mapping protocol). Then, after a complete reading of the texts of the 19 remaining articles, 14 were excluded. Thus, this study included only five articles in which GI size models were developed, the oldest of which was published in 2007 and the most recent in 2021. We therefore conclude that few studies are available in the literature on this theme.

Salmon subsidies predict territory size and habitat selection of an avian insectivore

The annual migration and spawning event of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) can lead to cross-boundary delivery of marine-derived nutrients from their carcasses into adjacent terrestrial ecosystems. The densities of some passerine species, including Pacific wrens (Troglodytes pacificus), have been shown to be positively correlated with salmon abundance along streams in Alaska and British Columbia, but mechanisms maintaining these densities remain poorly understood. Riparian areas near salmon streams could provide higher quality habitat for birds through greater food availability and more suitable vegetation structure for foraging and breeding, resulting in wrens maintaining smaller territories. We examined relationships between salmon biomass and Pacific wren territory size, competition, and habitat selection along 11 streams on the coast of British Columbia, Canada. We show that male wren densities increase and territory sizes decrease as salmon-spawning biomass increases. Higher densities result in higher rates of competition as male wrens countersing more frequently to defend their territories along streams with more salmon. Wrens were also more selective of the habitats they defended along streams with higher salmon biomass; they were 68% less likely to select low-quality habitat on streams with salmon compared with 46% less likely at streams without salmon. This suggests a potential trade-off between available high-quality habitat and the cost of competition that structures habitat selection. Thus, the marine-nutrient subsidies provided by salmon carcasses to forests lead to higher densities of wrens while shifting the economics of territorial defence toward smaller territories being defended more vigorously in higher quality habitats.

Evidence of economical territory selection in a cooperative carnivore

As an outcome of natural selection, animals are probably adapted to select territories economically by maximizing benefits and minimizing costs of territory ownership. Theory and empirical precedent indicate that a primary benefit of many territories is exclusive access to food resources, and primary costs of defending and using space are associated with competition, travel and mortality risk. A recently developed mechanistic model for economical territory selection provided numerous empirically testable predictions. We tested these predictions using location data from grey wolves ( Canis lupus ) in Montana, USA. As predicted, territories were smaller in areas with greater densities of prey, competitors and low-use roads, and for groups of greater size. Territory size increased before decreasing curvilinearly with greater terrain ruggedness and harvest mortalities. Our study provides evidence for the economical selection of territories as a causal mechanism underlying ecological patterns observed in a cooperative carnivore. Results demonstrate how a wide range of environmental and social conditions will influence economical behaviour and resulting space use. We expect similar responses would be observed in numerous territorial species. A mechanistic approach enables understanding how and why animals select particular territories. This knowledge can be used to enhance conservation efforts and more successfully predict effects of conservation actions.

Lek Territory Size and the Evolution of Leks: A Model and a Test Using an Ungulate With a Flexible Mating System

Despite many decades of research, the evolution of the rare and unusual lek-mating system continues to be debated. The key question is: why do males defend tiny territories clustered together in an aggregation when the costs of doing so are so high? Theory and empirical work on lek evolution typically focus on why males cluster their territories. Surprisingly, the other characteristic feature of classical leks, which is the unusually small size of lek-territories, has received very little attention. Here, I argue that understanding the factors favoring the reduced size of lek-territories can provide fresh insights into the evolution of leks. I used the variable mating system of an Indian antelope, the blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), to investigate lek territory size. Because there are few quantitative models of mating territory size, I first constructed a spatial simulation model of territory size based on male competition costs and on mating benefits generated by a female bias for mating on central lek-territories, the processes most likely to influence lek-territory size. The model generated much systematic variation in territory size within a territory-cluster and also across territory-clusters varying in the number of territorial males. I tested predictions from the model using comparative data on territory size from six blackbuck populations, and detailed spatial and temporal data from an intensively-studied population. Empirical analyses strongly supported model predictions and assumptions. Based on these findings, I present a novel hypothesis for the small size of classical lek-territories. I suggest that much of the variation in the size of lek-territories can be explained by the competition that arises from a female bias for mating on central territories and that is intensified by the number of territorial males in an aggregation. Thus, the reduced size of classical lek-territories is likely a consequence of a central mating advantage in large aggregations. I present a framework for the evolution of leks that explicitly incorporates the evolution of reduced territory size alongside the evolution of male clustering. This framework can also help explain other forms of mating systems that are based on the defense of mating territories by males.

The influence of operational sex ratio on reproductive success in male sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus)

Operational sex ratio (OSR) is predicted to influence the direction and intensity of sexual selection. Thus, as the relative numbers of reproductively active males vs females change, the behavioural competition among males and their differences in reproductive success are also predicted to change. While these outcomes seem intuitively obvious, there have been few experimental tests that examine these predictions. Here, we experimentally tested the relationship between OSR and reproductive behaviour in sheepshead minnows (Cyprinodon variegatus) competing in laboratory-based pools. Males and females were assigned to one of three OSRs (female-biased, equal, or male-biased). We monitored aggression, territory size, and number of eggs acquired by the most aggressive male, termed the “focal male,” in the pool. We used microsatellite analyses to determine the parentage of the eggs within the focal males’ territories. Focal males, by definition, were the most aggressive individual in their pools, but the degree of their aggressiveness and number of spawning sites they controlled were not influenced by OSR. Compared to focal males in the equal and male-biased OSRs, focal males in the female-biased OSR did receive more eggs but the OSR did not appear to influence the percentage of eggs they fathered on their own spawning sites. We speculate that a focal male’s competitive ability is more important to reproductive success than the number of other males and females present.

Habitat characteristics or territory size: which is more important to composition and diversity of mammals in non-protect area?

The main strategy for animal diversity conservation is to increase the territory size but little consideration is given to habitat characteristics requirement, which lead to a decrease in effectiveness for protected areas. Marginal of protected areas are considered to have higher species richness due to the edge effect. Strategy in these sites are still adopts to increase territory size or pay no attention to needs of specific habitat characteristics that is an important topic for the planner and manager. In this study, camera traps was used to estimate composition, diversity and habitat characteristics of mammals in a non-protected area near Huangshan Mountains in Anhui Province, China. We ran 49 liner models with the relative abundance index and 13 habitat characteristic factors of 11 mammals. To answer the question of habitat characteristics or territory size: which is more important to composition and diversity of mammals in non-protect area? We hypothesized that: (1) Non-protected areas have more mammal species than protected areas with the edge effect. (2) Non-protected areas have more species associated with habitat characteristics. We predicted that the habitat characteristics should be firstly considered, territory size secondly in non-protected areas, would provide a last refuge for mammals. Cameras were operated from June 2017 to October 2019, for a total of 29 months, 2,212 independent photos, 9,485 trap-days, recorded 18 species of mammals more than any other protected areas confirmed first hypothesis 1. The model analysis results showed that, habitat characteristics of mammals were different and showed a significant correlation, supported hypothesis 2. In addition, most species are related to vegetation characteristics except to primates (Macaca. thibetana) and rodent (Leopoldamys edwardsi) confirmed our prediction. We suggested conservation policies in non-protected areas: Habitat characteristics should be concerned at first and then increasing protected areas to provide the last refuge for species conservation.

Why Monarchy? The Rise and Demise of a Regime Type

Monarchy was the dominant form of rule in the pre-modern era and it persists in a handful of countries. We propose a unified theoretical explanation for its rise and decline. Specifically, we argue that monarchy offers an efficient solution to the primordial problem of order where societies are large and citizens isolated from each other and hence have difficulty coordinating. Its efficiency is challenged by other methods of leadership selection when communication costs decline, lowering barriers to citizen coordination. This explains its dominance in the pre-modern world and its subsequent demise. To test this theory, we produce an original dataset that codes monarchies and republics in Europe (back to 1100) and the world (back to 1700). With this dataset, we test a number of observable implications of the theory—centering on territory size, political stability, tenure in office, conflict, and the role of mass communications in the modern era.