CHNEP publishes the Charlotte Harbor Watershed Summit in 2008 Proceedings

in a special 2009 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 10 articles written by local researchers, resource managers and educators and utilized the aid of more than 26 scientists for the peer review process. Catherine Corbett on behalf of Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, Peter Doering with South Florida Water Management District and S. Gregory Tolley with Florida Gulf Coast University 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 Charlotte Harbor Watershed Summit held in 2005 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 same was done for the Charlotte Harbor Watershed Summit held in 2008.

The Charlotte Harbor Watershed Summit in 2008 was held in February in Punta Gorda with more than 100 participants for the three-day event. The central theme of the conference was "From Data to Policy: Our Partnership in Action." 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.

Florida Scientist as one PDF (8,976 KB)

• Introductory pages, including contents (PDF, 1,524 KB)

• From Data to Policy: The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program Partnership in Action (PDF, 65 KB)

  Lisa B. Beever

• Spatial Abundance Quantiles as a Tool for Assessing Habitat Compressions in Motile Estuarine Organisms (PDF, 212 KB)

  Ernst B. Peebles and Marin F.D. Greenwood

• Comparison of Fish Community Metrics to Assess Long-Term Changes and Hurricane Impacts at Peace River, Florida (PDF, 757 KB)

  Thomas R. Champeau, Philip W. Stevens and David A. Blewett

• Use of Rivers by Common Snook Centropomus Undecimalis in Southwest Florida: A First Step in Addressing the Overwintering Paradigm (PDF, 213 KB)

  David A. Blewett, Philip W. Stevens, Thomas R. Champeau and Ronald G. Taylor

• Ecoestrogen Exposure and Effects in the Tidal Caloosahatchee River (PDF, 1,026 KB)

  James Gelsleichter, Nancy J. Szabo and Mariah Arnold

• Experimental Studies on the Effects of Nutrient Loading and Sediment Removal on Water Quality in Lake Hancock (PDF, 1, 163 KB)

  David A. Tomasko, Emily C. Hyfield Keenan, Loreto C. DeBrabandere, Joseph P. Montoya and Thomas K. Frazer

• Assessing the Performance of an Optical Model used in Setting Water Quality Targets in Lemon Bay, Charlotte Harbor and Estero Bay, Florida (PDF, 877 KB)

  Michael R. Wessel and Catherine A. Corbett

• Comparison of Manual Hydroacoustic Measurement of Seagrass Distribution in the Caloosahatchee Estuary, Florida (PDF, 1,147 KB)

  Robert H. Chamberlain, Peter H. Doering, Beth Orlando and Bruce M. Sabol

• The Effects of Root Zone Manipulation on Microcosm Turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) Transplants (PDF, 625 KB)

  Eric C. Milbrandt

• Riparian Vegetation along Tributaries to Estero Bay, Florida (PDF, 969 KB)

  Edwin M. Everham III, David W. Ceilley, Brenda L. Thomas and Daniel Hamilton

• Surface and Groundwater Dynamics of a Cypress Swamp in an Urbanizing Watershed (PDF, 1,921 KB)

  Jeffrey G. Key, Edwin M. Everham III, David W. Ceilley, Brenda L. Thomas and Robert Leisure III

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 2011.