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Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity (CARICOMP) was a basin-wide cooperative, international network of marine laboratories established in 1985. Recognizing major trends of change in coastal ecosystems and the importance of the linkages among them, our goal was to monitor synoptically with standardized methods the physical environment and to document trends in measures of the structure and functioning of coral reefs, seagrasses and mangroves. Between 1985 and 1993, the CARICOMP Steering Committee established a data management center and wrote a methods manual. Marine laboratories joined the program by appointing a Site Director and signing an agreement specifying the cost sharing and responsibilities of the laboratory. With significant outside funding in 1993, the program became fully functional and ultimately more than 30 institutions in 21 Caribbean countries participated. Monitoring lasted from 1992 to 2007, spanning many technological advances including the internet, automated in situ data logging and remote sensing. Annual CARICOMP meetings, organized at a different laboratory each year, were essential in standardization of methods and maintaining interest. Open access to the data was a goal from the start, although the members imposed an embargo to allow time to publish major results. At some of the sites, monitoring continues to this day, generating among the longest coastal monitoring data sets in the Caribbean, and possibly in the world. Over time, multi-authored papers were prepared for the Proceedings of the International Coral Reef Symposia and other journals, and independent scientists drew on the open database for regional analyses of ecosystem trends. Recently, active members have written summary papers based on the monitoring data covering physical parameters, coral reefs, seagrasses and mangroves. Overall, the data reveal major differences across the region and changing rates and trends showing the dynamism and vulnerability of coastal ecosystems. The longer the monitoring continues, the more valuable the dataset becomes as a tool to discern the underlying factors driving the structure and functioning of Caribbean coastal ecosystems. Several recent workshops have concluded that the need for regionally cooperative monitoring and research has never been greater.

In the fall of 1964, Stanford University's R/VTe VegaCruise 5 crossed the equatorial Indian Ocean from Mombasa to Singapore, one of many ships participating in the International Indian Ocean Expedition. The cruise achieved two goals: (1) it provided hands-on oceanography training for graduate students in marine sciences, and (2) it documented the deep scattering layers of the Indian Ocean, only poorly known at the time. Taking place on the other side of the globe from the United States, the cruise also exposed students to cultural and personal experiences that shaped their lives and professions. It demonstrated the importance of experiential learning for future ocean scientists.

A conceptual ecological model of the effects of the major anthropogenic stressors on the Everglades ridge and slough system was developed as a planning tool for designing and assessing the Everglades restoration program. The pre-drainage Everglades ridge and slough system was an expansive, hydrologically integrated, long-hydroperiod, low-nutrient freshwater marsh, characterized by low-velocity sheet-flow, long-term water storage capacity, moderate-to-deep organic soils, and alternating sawgrass ridges and more open-water slough communities. Depth, distribution, and duration of surface flooding in this environment largely determined vegetation patterns, as well as distribution, abundance, seasonal movements, and reproductive dynamics of all aquatic and many terrestrial animals. Drivers on the system are urban and agricultural expansion, industrial and agricultural practices, water management practices, and human influences on species composition. These drivers lead to five major ecosystem stressors: reduced spatial extent, degraded water quality, reduced water storage capacity, compartmentalization, and exotic species. Attributes that are affected by these stressors and can be used as indicators of restoration success include periphyton, marsh plant communities, tree islands, alligators, wading birds, and marsh fishes, invertebrates, and herpetofauna.

Susan Lynn Williams (1951–2018) was an exceptional marine ecologist whose research focused broadly on the ecology of benthic nearshore environments dominated by seagrasses, seaweeds, and coral reefs. She took an empirical approach founded in techniques of physiological ecology. Susan was committed to applying her research results to ocean management through outreach to decision-makers and resource managers. Susan’s career included research throughout the USA in tropical, temperate, and polar regions, but she specialized in tropical marine ecology. Susan’s scholarship, leadership, and friendship touched many people, leading to this multi-authored paper. Susan’s scholarship was multi-faceted, and she excelled in scientific discovery, integration of scientific results, application of science for conservation, and teaching, especially as a mentor to undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. Susan served in a variety of leadership positions throughout her career. She embodied all facets of leadership; leading by example, listening to others, committing to the “long haul,” maintaining trust, and creating a platform for all to shine. Susan was an important role model for women in science. Susan was also a loyal friend, maintaining friendships for many decades. Susan loved cooking and entertaining with friends. This paper provides an overview of the accomplishments of Susan in the broad categories of scholarship, leadership, and friendship.

Conceptual ecological models, as used in the Everglades restoration program, are non-quantitative planning tools that identify the major anthropogenic drivers and stressors on natural systems, the ecological effects of these stressors, and the best biological attributes or indicators of these ecological responses. Conceptual ecological models can be used with any ecological restoration and conservation program and can become the primary communication, planning, and assessment link among scientists and policy-makers. A set of conceptual ecological models has been developed for South Florida restoration as a framework for supporting integration of science and policy and are key components of an Adaptive Management Program being developed for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. Other large-scale restoration programs also use conceptual ecological models. This special edition of Wetlands presents 11 South Florida regional models, one total system model for South Florida, and one international regional model. This paper provides an overview of these models and defines conceptual ecological model components. It also provides a brief history of South Florida's natural systems and summarizes components common to many of the regional models.

BackgroundPlantar fasciitis is a common foot disorder that may be resistant to nonoperative treatment. This study evaluated the use of electrohydraulic high-energy shock waves in patients who failed to respond to a minimum of six months of antecedent nonoperative treatment.MethodsA randomized, placebo-controlled, multiply blinded, crossover study was conducted. Phase 1 consisted of twenty patients who were nonrandomized to treatment with extracorporeal shock waves to assess the phase-2 study protocol. In phase 2, 293 patients were randomized and an additional seventy-one patients were nonrandomized. Following ankle-block anesthesia, each patient received 100 graded shocks starting at 0.12 to 0.22 mJ/mm, followed by 1400 shocks at 0.22 mJ/mm with use of a high-energy electrohydraulic shock-wave device. Patients in the placebo group received minimal subcutaneous anesthetic injections and nontransmitted shock waves by the same protocol. Three months later, patients were given the opportunity to continue without further treatment or have an additional treatment. This allowed a patient in the active treatment arm to receive a second treatment and a patient who received the placebo to cross over to the active treatment arm. Patients were followed at least one year after the final treatment.ResultsTreatment was successful in seventeen of the twenty phase-1 patients at three months. This improved to nineteen (95%) of twenty patients at one year and was maintained at five years. In phase 2, three months after treatment, sixty-seven (47%) of the 144 actively treated patients had a completely successful result compared with forty-two (30%) of the 141 placebo-treated patients (p = 0.008). At one year, sixty-five of the sixty-seven actively treated, randomized patients maintained a successful result. Thirty-six (71%) of the remaining fifty-one nonrandomized patients had a successful result at three months. For all 289 patients who had one or more actual treatments, 222 (76.8%) had a good or excellent result. No patient was made worse by the procedure.ConclusionsThe application of electrohydraulic high-energy shock waves to the heel is a safe and effective noninvasive method to treat chronic plantar fasciitis, lasting up to and beyond one year.Level of EvidenceTherapeutic study, Level I-1a (randomized controlled trial [significant difference]). See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Multiproxy analysis of two swamps, representative of numerous sites in the Dargaville area, provide a Holocene record of a transition from flooded marine valleys to freshwater swamp-forests. Dendrochronology of subfossil wood from these and other associated sites provide a record of kauri ( Agathis) growth and demise over 3600 calendar years. A discrepancy between the abundance of kauri pollen and the timing of maximum kauri forest development, as revealed by dendrochronology, suggests that kauri pollen abundance at our sites is determined by the wetness of the substrate rather than by proximity of source trees. This finding has implications for the palaeoclimatic interpretation of late Quaternary Agathis pollen curves. Kauri has been present in the Dargaville area for more than 7000 14C yr BP with suitable conditions for the preservation of wood leading to an apparent expansion in Agathis population after ~3600 cal. yr BP rather than representing a southerly migration of this species.

Obtains elevational ranges (upper and lower elevation limits) for woody species and ferns on the three highest mountains on Aotea (Great Barrier Island). Analyses the data using regression, ordination, and classification in order to determine potential species composition for any elevation. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.