CHNEP publishes the 2005 Watershed Summit Proceedings

in a special issue of Florida Scientist

A special issue of the Florida Scientist dedicated to the Charlotte Harbor region is now published and available as PDF files on this Program website. The Florida Scientist is a publication of the Florida Academy of Sciences. This special issue includes 13 articles written by local researchers, resource managers and educators and utilized the aid of more than 30 scientists for the peer review process. Catherine Corbett with Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, Peter Doering with South Florida Water Management District and Ernest Estevez with Mote Marine Laboratory served as guest editors. Dean Martin and Barbara Martin, lead editors of the Florida Scientist, provided invaluable guidance.

The CHNEP hosts triennial conferences for area scientists, resource managers, planners, industry staff and citizens to learn more about current research and restoration efforts as well as critical environmental issues affecting the Charlotte Harbor watershed. Charlotte Harbor Watershed Summits are opportunities for participants to review progress since the preceding summit. Due to a request by the Charlotte Harbor technical community to have the proceedings of the 2005 Watershed Summit published in a scientific, peer-reviewed journal, the Florida Academy of Sciences published a special issue of the Florida Scientist for these proceedings. CHNEP financially supported this publication.

The 2005 Charlotte Harbor Watershed Summit was held in February in Punta Gorda with more than 100 participants for the four-day event. The central theme of the conference was Lessons Learned in Transferring Science to Watershed Management. This theme was used for the Florida Scientist special issue. The research and management efforts included within this issue pertain specifically to Charlotte Harbor, Florida, but are designed to be of interest to researchers and others outside the region. Articles relate to transferring science to watershed management or emerging methods of research, monitoring and restoration. The articles address several key components important to the Florida Scientist and its readers, such as research that directly influences watershed management, applicability to other coastal systems, helps readers better understand estuarine ecosystems or management issues in general and is of interest to scientists or resource managers outside Charlotte Harbor.

• INTRODUCTORY PAGES, INCLUDING CONTENTS

• 2005 WATERSHED SUMMIT: LESSONS LEARNED TRANSFERRING SCIENCE TO WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

  LISA B. BEEVER

• SEAGRASS COVERAGE CHANGES IN CHARLOTTE HARBOR, FL

  CATHERINE A. CORBETT

• SEAGRASS SPECIES COMPOSITION AND DISTRIBUTION TRENDS IN RELATION TO SALINITY FLUCTUATIONS IN CHARLOTTE HARBOR, FLORIDA

  JAIME M. GREENAWALT-BOSWELL, JASON A. HALE, KATIE S. FUHR AND JUDITH A. OTT

• DEVELOPMENT OF WATER QUALITY TARGETS FOR CHARLOTTE HARBOR, FLORIDA USING SEAGRASS LIGHT REQUIREMENTS

  CATHERINE A. CORBETT AND JASON A. HALE

• CHLOROPHYLL a AND ITS USE AS AN INDICATOR OF EUTROPHICATION IN THE CALOOSAHATCHEE ESTUARY, FLORIDA

  PETER H. DOERING, ROBERT H. CHAMBERLAIN AND KATHLEEN M. HAUNERT

• COMPARISON OF LIGHT LIMITING WATER QUALITY FACTORS IN SIX FLORIDA AQUATIC PRESERVES

  JUDITH A. OTT, RENEE M. DUFFEY, STEPHANIE E. ERICKSON, KATIE S. FUHR, BOBBI A. RODGERS AND MELYNDA A. SCHNEIDER

• PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS OF ESTROGENIC ACTIVITY IN SURFACE WATERS OF THE MYAKKA RIVER, FLORIDA

  HEATHER COX, SARA MOUZI, AND JAMES GELSLEICHTER

• PESTICIDES IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WATERWAYS – A REPORT CARD

  JUDITH M. HUSHON

• FIVE YEARS OF THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FROG MONITORING NETWORK: CHANGES IN FROG COMMUNITIES AS AN INDICATOR OF LANDSCAPE CHANGE

  E. CORRIE PIETERSON, LINDSAY M. ADDISON, JORGE N. AGOBIAN, BRENDA BROOKS-SOLVESON, JOHN CASSANI, AND EDWIN M. EVERHAM III

• SPOTTED SEATROUT (FAMILY SCIAENIDAE) GROWTH AS AN INDICATOR OF ESTUARINE CONDITIONS IN SAN CARLOS BAY, FLORIDA

  STEPHEN A. BORTONE, ALFONSE J. MARTIGNETTE, AND JUSTIN P. SPINELLI

• HABITAT EVALUATION IN COASTAL SOUTHWESTERN FLORIDA: A POLICY DECISION MODEL FOR THE BLUE CRAB, CALLINECTES SAPIDUS

  TOMMA K. BARNES, FRANK J. MAZZOTTI, LEONARD G. PEARLSTINE, AND ASWANI K. VOLETY

• A SIMULATION OF THE HURRICANE CHARLEY STORM SURGE AND ITS BREACH OF NORTH CAPTIVA ISLAND

  ROBERT H. WEISBERG AND LIANYUAN ZHENG

• A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE, AND ATTITUDE IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION SPECIALISTS, INSTRUCTORS, STUDENTS, AND PARENTS IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

  ERNESTO LASSO DE LA VEGA

The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program greatly appreciates the diligent efforts of the guest editors, contributors and peer reviewers of this special issue as well as the Florida Academy of Science. It is through hard work and dedication of these individuals that this special issue is possible.

The next Charlotte Harbor Watershed Summit will be held during the winter of 2008.