Adaptive management as a foundational framework for developing collaborative estuary management programs.

Collaborative nonregulatory programs can benefit the long-term sustainability of environmental resources. Such programs benefit from extensive planning and assessment relative to ecological systems as well as public participation. While many programs use adaptive management as a guiding programmatic framework, few programs successfully integrate social and human context into their adaptive management frameworks. While this adaptive governance framework can be successful, many potential challenges arise when incorporating public stakeholders into the adaptive management framework. To reduce those challenges, programs need participation from diverse stakeholder groups that represent multiple communities of interest, place, and identity. The participatory process benefits from a diverse group of stakeholders and can result in successful management of environmental resources. We highlight the participatory co-management process of three newly developing nonregulatory programs that are modeled after the United States EPA's National Estuary Program in the Perdido and Pensacola Bay systems, Choctawhatchee Bay, and the St. Andrew and St. Joseph Bay systems (Florida USA). This case study illustrates how collaborative nonregulatory programs can be implemented not only in the United States, but also in other regions of the world.

Pulsatile urea excretion in Gulf toadfish: the role of circulating serotonin and additional 5-HT receptor subtypes.

The neurochemical serotonin (5-HT) is involved in stimulating pulsatile urea excretion in Gulf toadfish (Opsanus beta) through the 5-HT2A receptor; however, it is not known if (1) the 5-HT signal originates from circulation or if (2) additional 5-HT receptor subtypes are involved. The first objective was to test whether 5-HT may be acting as a hormone in the control of pulsatile urea excretion by measuring potential fluctuations in circulating 5-HT corresponding with a urea pulse, which would suggest circulating 5-HT may be involved with urea pulse activation. We found that plasma 5-HT significantly decreased by 38% 1 h after pulse detection when branchial urea excretion was significantly elevated and then returned to baseline. This suggests that 5-HT is removed from the circulation, possibly through clearance or excretion, and may be involved in the termination of pulsatile urea excretion. There appeared to be no pulsatile release of 5-HT from peripheral tissues to trigger a urea pulse. The second objective was to determine if additional 5-HT receptor subtypes, such as an additional 5-HT2 receptor (5-HT2C receptor) or the 5-HT receptors that are linked to cAMP (5-HT4/6/7 receptors), played a role in the stimulation of urea excretion. Intravenous injection of 5-HT2C, 5-HT4, 5-HT6, and 5-HT7 receptor agonists did not result in a urea pulse, suggesting that these receptors, and thus cAMP, are not involved in stimulating urea excretion. The involvement of circulating 5-HT and the 5-HT2A receptor in the regulation of pulsatile urea excretion may provide insight into its adaptive significance.