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.

Effects of white-tailed deer () exclusion on plant recovery in overwash fans after a severe coastal storm.

We documented the impacts of an abundant deer population on dune vegetation recovering from severe storm surge on a barrier island through use of permanent plots and a repeated measures analysis. Three years after landfall of the storm, vegetation cover was dominated by American beachgrass, , though we observed 12 plant species among plots surveyed. We documented significantly greater vegetation cover in fenced than unfenced plots in overwash fans in two consecutive years.

Deer do not affect short-term rates of vegetation recovery in overwash fans on Fire Island after Hurricane Sandy.

Coastal resilience is threatened as storm-induced disturbances become more frequent and intense with anticipated changes in regional climate. After severe storms, rapid recovery of vegetation, especially that of dune-stabilizing plants, is a fundamental property of coastal resilience. Herbivores may affect resilience by foraging and trampling in disturbed areas.

Total syntheses of the squalene-derived halogenated polyethers -dioxepandehydrothyrsiferol and armatol A via bromonium- and Lewis acid-initiated epoxide-opening cascades.

Herein we describe in full our investigations leading to the first total syntheses of -dioxepandehydrothyrsiferol and armatol A. Discovery of a bromonium-initiated epoxide-opening cascade enabled novel tactics for constructing key fragments found in both natural products and have led us to revise the proposed biogeneses. Other common features found in the routes include convergent fragment coupling strategies to assemble the natural products' backbones and the use of epoxide-opening cascades for rapid constructions of the fused polyether subunits.

Discovery of novel 1-azoniabicyclo[2.2.2]octane muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists.

A novel 4-hydroxyl(diphenyl)methyl substituted quinuclidine series was discovered as a very promising class of muscarinic antagonists. The structure-activity relationships of the connectivity of the diphenyl moiety to the quinuclidine core and around the ring nitrogen side chain are described. Computational docking studies using an homology model of the M(3) receptor readily explained the observed structure-activity relationship of the various compounds.

Effects of forest structure and composition on food availability for Varecia variegata at Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar.

We present a summary of a long-term field study that examined the effects of forest disturbance on the availability of palatable fruit and its utilization by V. variegata. Forest structure and tree species composition were measured in three adjacent study areas, with different histories of disturbance, in Ranomafana National Park (RNP), Madagascar.