PE EIE[R-Rg RESEARCH ON - HJ Andrews Experimental Forest

4. Nutritional adaptation to environmen t
5. Ecology of migrant peopl e
B. Environmental Managemen t
1 . Operating programs
a. Convergent and divergent evolutio n
in the Americas
b. Experimental biography of the sea
c. Physiology of colonizing specie s
d. Atmospheric dispersal (aeriobiology
program )
e. Analysis of ecosystem s
f. Conservation of ecosystems fo r
scientific purposes
g .
Chemical and biological control o f
organism s
2 . Programs proposed but without funding
a. Conservation of genetic material s
b. Crop production under stress
c. Productivity and conservation of
marine mammals
d. Nitrogen management
e. Phenology
U .S. IBP activities, particularly the Integrated
Research Programs, provide a different
focus for scientific inquiry ; i .e., integrated
groups of scientists working toward solutio n
of common problems instead of individual s
working alone . The changes in focus have produced
some trauma and a cadre of critics .
Criticisms are still abundant but help to insur e
better programs. Some critics say that integrated
research efforts result in mediocre
science, but program accomplishments mus t
speak to this point now and in the future .
Analysis of Ecosystems
and th e
Coniferous Forest Biome
Having dealt with generalities of the total
IBP, I now wish to explain briefly some specific
parts of the total research effort. A s
noted, the environmental management segment
of U .S. IBP includes a subdivision calle d
" Analysis of Ecosystems ." This is the largest
and most active U .S . IBP program . It was originally
conceived by Dr. Fred Smith of the
University of Michigan, now at Harvard. The
basic concepts involved are that world
environments can be placed within broad
units called Biomes and that integrated Biom e
research efforts will provide the understanding
for using and conserving the resources of
that environment .
Initially, the Analysis of Ecosystems pro -
gram developed slowly . The Grassland Biome
was organized first and has been a guide for
other Biome programs . The total research
effort will include the following Biomes :
Grasslands Coniferous forest
Desert
Tundra
Deciduous forest Tropical fores t
Figure 1 illustrates the world environmenta l
distribution of the Biomes .
The first five Biomes are now functioning .
The Tropical Forest Biome is still being organized;
however, NSF is supporting tropical ecosystems
research by such groups as the Organization
for Tropical Studies .
Figure 1 . Distribution of Biomes .
The overall objectives of the Analysis of
Ecosystems program are :
1. To establish a scientific base for program s
to maintain or improve environmenta l
quality ;
2. To derive broad principles of ecosyste m
structure and function through an integration
of the results of the six Biome studies ;
3. To relate these principles to characteristic s
of ecosystems such as persistence, stability ,
maturity, and diversity ; and
4. To develop and refine a generalized adapt -
able simulation model suitable for use in
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