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tions recommending widespread phosphorus 15. For example, T. P. Murphy, D. R. S. Lean, visualize a bioassay experi- control as a solution to eutrophication. Almost and C. Nalewajko [ 192, 900 (1976)] ment that could realistically represent all all of the freshwater scientists in the were showed that Anabaena requires iron for fixation represented. of atmospheric and that this genus of these parameters. 3. For example, see J. W. G. Lund [ (Lon- can suppress the growth of other of On the basis of data from several don) 249, 797 (1974)] for a critique of phos- algae by excretion of a growth-inhibiting phorus control, including my report of the same substance. studies of the , nitrogen, and year (4). 16. M. Turner and R. Flett, unpublished data. As 4. D. W. Schindler, Science 184, 897 (1974). yet no quantitative estimates of , I hypothesize that 5. P. Dillon and F. Rigler,J. Fish. Res. Board Can. for an entire season are available. G. Persson, S. schemes for controlling nitrogen input to 32, 1519 (1975); R. A. Vollenweider, Schweiz. Z. K. Holmgren, M. Jansson, A. Lundgren, and C. Hydrol. 37, 53 (1975); D. W. Schindler, Limnol. Anell [in Proceedings of the NRC-CNC lakes may actually affect quality Oceanogr., in press. (SCOPE) Circumpolar Conference on Northern adversely by causing low N/P ratios, 6. See papers in G. E. Likens, Ed., Am. Soc. (Ottawa, 15 to 18 September 1975)] Limnol. Oceanogr. Spec. Symp. No. 1 (1972). reported similar results for a lake in Sweden that which favor the vacuolate, nitrogen-fix- 7. For example, see articles in Can. Res. Dev. 3, 19 was fertilized with phosphorus. ing blue-green algae that are most objec- (1970). 17. Possible additional mechanisms are outlined by 8. For example, W. Lange, Nature (London) 215, D. W. Schindler [in Environmental Biogeochem- tionable from a standpoint. 1277 (1967); J. Phycol. 6, 230 (1970); M. Saka- istry, J. 0. Nriagu, Ed. (Univ. of Michigan moto, J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 28, 203 (1971); Press, Ann Arbor, 1976), pp. 647-664]. In partic- Conversely, when phosphorus control A. Christie, Ont. Water Resour. Comm. Res. ular, nitrogen appears to be more efficiently causes an increase in the N/P ratio, the Publ. No. 32 (1968). recycled from sediments than phosphorus. 9. D. W. Schindler, G. Brunskill, S. Emerson, W. 18. Whole-lake experiments with phosphorus- resulting shift from "water bloom" blue- Broecker, T-H. Peng, Science 177, 1192 (1972); deficient fertilizations in lakes 226 southwest green algae to forms that are less objec- D. W. Schindler (10); S. Emerson, W. Broecker, and 304 have confirmed the lack ofeither biologi- D. W. Schindler, J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 30, cal or geochemical mechanisms for enhancing tionable may be as important as quan- 1475 (1973). inputs of phosphorus. titative decreases in algal standing crop. 10. D. W. Schindler, Int. Ver. Theor. Angew. Lim- 19. For example, see P. Sze, Phycologia 14, 197 nol. Verh. 19, 3221 (1975). (1975); M. Michalski and K. Nicholls, Phos- Several authors have observed such spe- 11. __ and E. Fee, J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 30, phorus Removal and Water Quality Improve- 1501 (1973). ments in Gravehurst Bay, Ontario (Ontario Min- cies shifts with changing N/P ratios (19). 12. S. Emerson [Limnol. Oceanogr. 20, 743 (1975); istry of Environment, Rexdale, Ontario, 1975); It is clear that management decisions ibid., p. 754] showed that gas exchange is rough- M. Michalski and N. Conroy, Proc. 16th Conf. ly proportional to the square of the veloci- Great Lakes Res. (1973), p. 934; W. T. Edmond- on nutrient control measures must be ty at the lake surface. He also reported that son, Verh. Int. Ver. Limnol. 18, 284 (1972). based on controlled tests as well as chemical enhancement of gas exchange in soft- Other members of our staff have recently been water lakes may yield values five to ten able to cause shifts in dominance from blue- simple laboratory bioassays. higher than unenhanced values, once nutrient green to green algae in hypereutrophic lakes by additions have caused depletion of inorganic adding nitrogen (J. Barica and H. Kling, person- References and Notes carbon, so that alkalinity is dominated by hy- al communication). droxyl ions. 20. My thanks to T. Ruszczynski, who performed 1. For a summary ofthese, see J. Vallentyne, Can. 13. These views are summarized by D. W. Schind- the calculations for Figs. 1, 2, and 4, to D. Fish. Mar. Serv. Misc. Spec. Publ. No. 22 ler (10). Findlay, whose plankton identifications and (1974), p. 162. 14. In lake 226, nitrogen fixation contributed 38 counts allowed these interpretations, and to J. 2. The general assemblies of both the International percent of the total nitrogen income in 1974 and Prokopowich for chemical analyses. The critical

Limnological Congress and the International 19 percent in 1975 (R. Flett, University of Mani- comments of K. Patalas, R. Flett, and E. Fee on October 31, 2011 Ecology Congress unanimously passed resolu- toba, thesis, 1976). are greatly appreciated.

Development of the Reserve Concept The concept of biosphere reserves was

developed as a major element of Project www.sciencemag.org The Biosphere Reserve Program in 8, Conservation ofNatural Areas and of the Genetic Material They Contain, in the the Unesco-sponsored Program on Man and the Biosphere (1). This project, which emerged as an important com- A program has been developed to select key ponent early in the MAB planning, was sites for research and monitoring. initially considered in detail by an expert environmental Downloaded from panel, which met in Morges, Switzer- , in September 1973. Establishment Jerry F. Franklin of a worldwide network of biosphere reserves was this panel's first recommen- dation. A task force with the responsibili- ty of defining "criteria and guidelines for Biosphere reserves are major elements ronmental research and monitoring, and the selection and establishment of bio- in Unesco's "Man and the Biosphere" education. sphere reserve" (2, p. 9) met in Paris in (MAB) program and in the U.S.- The scientific must be May 1974. The task force report is the U.S.S.R. Environmental Agreement. aware of the existence and potential source of the following information on They are part of an international system of the biosphere reserves if they are the international program. of reserves with the primary objectives to fulfill their intended functions. I Biosphere reserves have three basic ofconservation ofgenetic diversity, envi- will outline the conceptual development purposes or objectives: (i) conservation ofthe Unesco effort, the philosophy guid- or preservation-"to conserve for pres- The author is chief ecologist, Pacific North- ing its implementation in the United ent and future use the diversity and integ- west and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, States, and the utilization and expansion rity of biotic communities of and Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon 97330. He was chairman of the U.S. Man and the Biosphere of U.S. biosphere reserves expected in within natural , and Committee on Project 8 (Biosphere Reserves) and is the future. The views presented are to safeguard the genetic diversity of spe- U.S. chairman of Project V-4.1 (Biosphere Re- serves) under the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Environmental those of the U.S. National Committee cies on which their continuing Agreement. for Man and the Biosphere. depends" (2, p. 6); (ii) research and 262 SCIENCE, VOL. 195 monitoring-"to provide areas for eco- the first type, representative natural and the primary thrust of the national logical and environmental research in- areas (3). programs. In some countries, establish- cluding, particularly, baselines studies The system used for classifying the ing reserves for conservation will have ..." (2, p. 6); and (iii) education-"to world into biotic regions or was priority, and research programs will provide facilities for education and train- developed by the International Union for have to be developed as quickly as pos- ing" (2, p. 6). Conservation of Nature and Natural Re- sible. In other countries with numerous In concept, the core of the biosphere sources (IUCN) (4, 5). This system is existing conservation reserves, current reserve program includes natural areas being further divided and refined for the research and educational activities as representative of the major biomes or continental United States (see Fig. 1). well as the potential for their expansion biotic divisions of the world, including Additional criteria for identifying re- will be more important criteria in select- their main subdivisions and transitional serves include size (areas large enough to ing biosphere reserves. zones. Biosphere reserves of other types be effective conservation units and to The biosphere reserve program "is not are identified, notably natural areas with include complete watersheds) and ade- meant as a substitute for programmes to unique features of exceptional interest quate legal protection from nonconform- establish national parks or equivalent re- and man-modified in regions ing uses. serves" although they may "often coin- where natural conditions no longer exist. All three objectives-conservation, re- cide partly with or incorporate national The rationale for the objectives and de- search, and education-are viewed as parks . . ." (2, p. 6). The objective con- sign of each kind of biosphere reserve important and generally compatible. Pri- has been developed (2). The U.S. pro- orities among the objectives will vary gram has focused, at least initially, on with the nature of the biosphere reserve on October 31, 2011 www.sciencemag.org Downloaded from

Fig. 1. Location of establ-shed biosphere reserves and biotic prov- inces in the continental United States (including ); province subdivisions are indicated by dotted lines. Alphabetic designations refer to biotic provinces: Al, Aleutian Islands; AT, Alaskan ; AU, Austroriparian; CA, Californian; CH, Chihuahuan; CT, Canadian ; EF, Eastern Forest; EV, ; GB, Great Basin; GR, Grasslands; MC, Madrean-Cordilleran; OR, Oregonian; RM, Rocky Mountains; SC, Sierra-Cascade; SI, Sitkan; SO, Sonoran; TA, Ta- maulipan; YT, Yukon Tundra. Numbered areas refer to biosphere reserves: 1, Aleutian Islands National Refuge; 2, Big Bend National Park; 3, Cascade Head Experimental Forest; 4, Central Plains Experiment Station; 5, Channel Islands National Monument; 6, Coram Experimental Forest; 7, Coweeta Experimental Forest; 8, Desert Experimental Range; 9, Everglades National Park; 10, Fraser Experimental Forest; 11, National Park; 12, Great Smoky Mountains National Park; 13, H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest; 14, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest; 15, Jornada Experimental Range; 16, Mount McKinley National Park; 17, Noatak National Range; 18, Olympic National Park; 19, Pipe Cactus National Monument; 20, Pawnee National Grassland (9); 21, Rocky Mountain National Park; 22, San Dimas Experimental Forest; 23, San Joaquin Experimental Range; 24, Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks; 25, Stanislaus Experimental Forest; 26, Three Sisters ; 27, Yellowstone National Park. 21 JANUARY 1977 263 cerning research and monitoring is a ma- with varying degrees of naturalness and Initial Implementation ofthe Biosphere jor distinguishing feature between parks of relative emphasis on conservation and Reserve Program in the United States and biosphere reserves. To avoid poten- research. Ultimately, the unifying con- tial conflicts between conservation and cept is a worldwide system of reserves The U.S. MAB Committee on Project research, the task force encouraged the representing all the globally significant 8 (U.S. MAB 8 Committee) weighs con- designation of core areas with strict con- biotic regions and unique features, each servation and research equally in its de- servation objectives and adjacent buffer with active research and monitoring pro- liberations on biosphere reserves. Selec- zones where destructive types of re- grams associated with the preservation tion of representative sites in each biotic search, such as might be associated with effort, and all linked by an international province is, of course, an essential ele- studies of various land uses, could be understanding of purposes and standards ment; the sites should provide superla- carried out. and by frequent exchanges of personnel five examples of the ecosystems found in What seems clear from the expert pan- and information. Each country must a province. Conservation of genetic re- el and task force efforts is that a variety work toward this goal in the context of sources is implicit. However, the exis- of kinds of areas will be accommodated its peculiar national potentialities and tence of or potential for major ecological as part ofthe biosphere reserve program, programs. research and monitoring programs is crit-

Table 1. Established biosphere reserves in the United States and its territories. The reserves are administered by the Department of the Interior (Interior), the Bureau of (Land Management), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Fish and Wildlife), the (National Park), the Forest Service (Forest), the Department of Agriculture (Agriculture), or the Agricultural Research Service (Agricultural Research). The orientation of an area is toward conservation (C), experimental research (E), or both. Biotic province Name and location Outstanding features Size Administering Orien- or subdivision (8) ofarea (hectares) agency tation Alaskan Tundra Noatak National Arctic Major arctic river basin (tundra ecosystems) 3,000,000 Interior, Land Manage- C Range, Alaska ment Aleutian Aleutian Island National Includes essentially all the Aleutian Island 1,100,000 Interior, Fish and Wild- CE Islands Wildlife Refuge, Alaska chain Austroriparian* Californian Channel Islands National Two islands (453 hectares) and adjacent 7,440 Interior, National Park C Monument, California ; abundance of endemic biota and marine on October 31, 2011 San Dimas Experimental Typical chaparral ; history of eco- 6,947 Agriculture, Forest E Forest, California logical and watershed research San Joaquin Experimental California Central Valley annual grassland 1,861 Agriculture, Forest E Range, California and oak savanna; history of ecological and range management research Chihuahuan Big Bend National Park, Representative desert mountain and low- 286,600 Interior, National Park C Texas land ecosystems Jornada Experimental Typical desert grasslands; history of ecologi- 77,000 Agriculture, Agricultural E Range, cal and range management research Research

Eastern Forest* Coweeta Experimental Typical southern Appalachian mixed hard- 2,300 Agriculture, Forest E www.sciencemag.org (south) Forest, North Carolina forest; history ofwatershed and ecological research Great Smoky Mountains Appalachian mountainscape with rich biotic 207,500 Interior, National Park C National Park, Tennes- diversity including hardwood and spruce- see and North Carolina fir ; history ofecological/bio- geographical research Eastern Forest Hubbard Brook Experi. Typical northern Appalachian mountain 3,075 Agriculture, Forest E (northeast) mental Forest, New drainage of mixed hardwoods and spruce; and re- Hampshire history of ecosystem watershed Downloaded from search Eastern Forestt (north central) Everglades Everglades National Park, Subtropical forest, mangrove, swamp, 566,800 Interior, National Park CE Florida marshland, and near-shore marine ecosys- tems; rich biota; substantial ecological re- search including experimental manipula- tions Grasslands Central Plains Experiment Typical short-grass prairie ecosystems; his- 6,280 Agriculture, Agricultural E (short grass) Station, tory ofecological and range management Research research Grasslands (true prairie) Great Basin* (north) Great Basin Desert Experimental Typical salt-desert shrub (saltbush-grease- 22,513 Agriculture, Forest E (south) Range, wood) andjuniper-pinyon pine ecosys- tems; history ofecological and range man- agement research Greater Luquillo Experimental For- Tropical forest, montane thicket, palm 11,300 Agriculture, Forest EC Antillean est, and dwarfforest ecosystems; rich biota; history ofecological and silvicultural re- search Hawaiiant 264 SCIENCE, VOL. 195 ical. The manipulative research is also the impetus of a Unesco MAB confer- and the Central Plains Experiment Sta- linked to the educational use of reserves ence in the United States and agree- tion. These areas typically have at least since these are areas in which various ments between the United States and the small natural areas or preserves associat- management practices can be tested and U.S.S.R. on joint designation and study ed with them as control sites for the demonstrated. of biosphere reserves. Nine additional experiments. The large conservation pre- From the earliest stage in the selection areas were established in November serve typically has a relatively limited process it was obvious that some con- 1975. history of research and monitoring and servation and experimental reserves in The areas (Table 1) are generally of limited options for experimental or ma- the United States were outstanding can- two types, experimental tracts and large nipulative research. The Three Sisters didates for biosphere reserves. This was conservation preserves. Experimental Wildemess is an example, as are most of true in a majority of the biotic provinces. tracts have histories of ecological re- the designated national parks and monu- This appraisal was based on (i) the signifi- search and monitoring, which often in- ments (Fig. 3) (6). cance and representativeness oftheir fea- clude major manipulative research and It was seldom possible to identify a tures and (ii) long histories of biotic pres- demonstration projects (Fig. 2). Exam- single area that satisfied all criteria-a ervation, ecological research, or both. ples are the Coweeta, H. J. Andrews, large, strictly preserved tract for con- From these candidates an initial series of Fraser, and Luquillo Experimental For- servation of a full array of 19 reserves was selected in 1974 under ests, the Jornada Experimental Range, with a substantial history of research and

Table 1 (continued) Biotic province Name and location Outstanding features Size Administering Orien- or subdivision (8) of area (hectares) agency tation Lesser Virgin Islands National Tropical ecosystems including near-shore 6,130 Interior, National Park C Antillean Park, Virgin Islands marine areas Micronesiant Oregonian Cascade Head Experimen- Coastal Sitka-spruce-western hemlock for- 7,051 Agriculture, Forest E tal Forest and Scenic Re- ests and estuary; history ofecological and search Area, Oregon silvicultural research Olympic National Park, Coastal mountain system with dense co- 362,850 Interior, National Park C niferous forest, coastal and alpine ecosys- tems; abundant and large elk on October 31, 2011 herds Rocky Mountain Coram Experimental For- Typical montane mixed-conifer forests of 2,984 Agriculture, Forest E (north) est, Douglas fir, western larch, and lodgepole pine; history ofecological and silvicultur- al research Glacier National Park, Broad range oftypical mountain landscapes 410,000 Interior, National Park C Montana and ecosystems from prairie margin to alpine Yellowstone National Unique area with abundant thermal phenom- 900,000 Interior, National Park C

Park, , Idaho, ena and larger mammals; history of eco- www.sciencemag.org and Montana logical research Rocky Mountain Fraser Experimental For- Subalpine forests of subalpine fir, Engel- 9,300 Agriculture, Forest E (south) est, Colorado mann spruce, and lodgepole pine and al- pine tundra; history ofecological and wa- tershed research Rocky Mountain National Typical montane and subalpine forest eco- 106,160 Interior, National Park C Park, Colorado systems and alpine tundra Sierra-Cascade H. J. Andrews Experimen- Dense coniferous forest ecosystems of 6,050 Agriculture, Forest E (north) tal Forest, Oregon western Douglas fir, hemlock, cedars, and Downloaded from true firs; history ofecosystem and water- shed research Three Sisters Wilderness, Dense montane and subalpine forests of 80,900 Agriculture, Forest C Oregon Douglas fir, hemlocks, and true firs, al- pine ecosystems, and recent volcanic for- mations Sierra-Cascade Sequoia-Kings Canyon Na- Representative Sierran mixed-conifer for- 342,754 Interior, National Park C (south) tional Parks, California ests (sugar pine, incense-cedar, true firs); subalpine and alpine ecosystems Stanislaus Experimental Representative Sierran mixed-conifer for- 683 Agriculture, Forest E Forest, California ests; history ofecological and silvicultural research Sitkant Sonoran Organ Pipe Cactus Nation- Desert ecosystems including rich diversity 134,000 Interior, National Park C (typical) al Monument, of cacti Sonoran (Mojave)t Yukon Taiga Mt. McKinley National Representative tundra and taiga ecosystems 784,900 Interior, National Park C Park, Alaska including large ungulate and predator com- ponents *The Savannah River (SC in Fig. 1), Oak Ridge (TE), and Arid Ecology (WA) Reservations of the Research and Development Administration (ERDA) have been proposed for sites in the Austroriparian, Eastern Forest (south) and Great Basin (north) Biotic Provinces, respectively. Thus far, ERDA has not designated any portions of these sites as biosphere reserves because of concerns over agency prerogatives. tGood candidates for biosphere reserves have been identified, but a final selection has not been made. 21 JANUARY 1977 265 monitoring and potential for major exper- Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Use and Management of Biosphere imental treatments. [The only area that is and, if designated, the Oak Ridge Reser- Reserves clearly of this type is the Arid Lands vation of ERDA will as a single Ecology Reserve, at Hanford, Washing- conceptual reserve for the southeastern The Unesco task force has specified ton, which is controlled by the Energy subdivision of Eastern Forest Biotic several kinds of desired research and Research and Development Administra- Province. monitoring activities (2). (i) Long-term tion (ERDA) (7).] Because of this diffi- In many biotic provinces and subdivi- baseline studies of environmental and culty, the U.S. Committee on Biosphere sions, appropriate sets of biosphere re- biologic features (relating to the commu- Reserves developed the concept of serves have been selected (Table 1). nity, , or fauna), which are essential multiple reserves whereby experimental- Twenty-eight areas have been estab- as bases for management of the area and ly oriented tracts are matched with large lished, and additional sites have been for other research projects; (ii) research preserves similar in biologic and environ- nominated and await agency designa- designed to assist in determining manage- mental features. Together they provide a tion. Some gaps remain, for example, in ment policies for the reserve; (iii) experi- single conceptual biosphere reserve for a the Grasslands and Sonoran Provinces mental or manipulative studies (outside biotic province. For example, in the and in the north-central subdivision of the strictly preserved areas) particularly northern half of the Sierra Cascade Biot- the Eastern Forest Province. Selection of the ecological effects of activi- ic Province (Table 1), the H. J. Andrews of candidates to fill these needs or to ties; (iv) environmental monitoring, in- Experimental Forest is linked to the near- augment existing biosphere reserves in cluding use as part ofthe Global Environ- by Three Sisters Wilderness to provide a other provinces will proceed much more mental Monitoring System; and (v) study "'complete" biosphere reserve for this slowly as a continuing activity ofthe U.S. sites for the various MAB research proj- province. Coweeta Experimental Forest, MAB 8 Committee. ects. The relative emphasis on different re- search and monitoring activities will ob- viously vary with the nature of the re- serve, with the opportunity to continue existing research, and with the availabili- ty of new sources of funds. The U.S. MAB 8 Committee sub- scribes to these views on the potential use of the reserves for research and on October 31, 2011 monitoring. Agencies and institutions supporting research programs on bio- sphere reserves are expected at least to continue and, it is to be hoped, to expand their support. In many cases, the U.S. reserves are already major ecological re- search centers in their respective prov- inces. The most difficult tasks will be

(i) www.sciencemag.org obtaining the necessary funding for base- line surveys, studies, and monitoring; and (ii) persuading ecologically oriented scientists to use these sites more exten- sively. The developing support of field research facilities by the National Sci- ence Foundation should be of major as- sistance; all of the experimentally orient- Downloaded from ed biosphere reserves are clearly of na- tional significance, and most are recog- nized centers for applied and basic environmental research. The U.S.-U.S.S.R. biosphere reserve project under the bilateral Environmen- tal Agreement is adding further impetus to plans for utilizing the reserves. The lead agencies for this project in the U.S.S.R. are the Academy of Sciences and the Hydrometeorological Service. At the first meeting of the bilateral proj- ect in New York in October 1975, it was apparent that the U.S.S.R. is empha- sizing ecological research and environ- mental monitoring in selecting their bio- Fig. 2. Experimentally oriented biosphere reserves are tracts that, in addition to providing outstanding representations of a biotic province, have long histories of ecological research and sphere reserves and planning for their monitoring. Major manipulative research projects, such as this study of the effects of logging at use. High priority in the U.S.-U.S.S.R. H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon, are typical. project is placed on (i) monitoring and 266 SCIENCE, VOL. 195 research aimed at understanding the structure and function of ecosystems and their components; (ii) environmental con- sequences of various land management practices; and (iii) ensuring the effective- ness of biological reserves in maintaining biotic diversity and gene pools by consid- ering size, heterogeneity, and ex- ternal influences. The U.S.S.R. Hydro- meteorological Service is particularly in- terested in developing comparable envi- ronmental monitoring programs for various pollutants. Utilizing biosphere reserves for such activities was explored at a joint symposium in Moscow in May 1976, a meeting which laid the ground- work for some concrete collaborative ef- forts. Designating areas as biosphere re- serves in the United States is not ex- pected to require major alterations in Fig. 3. Some established preserves which are outstanding representations of the biota of a ,existing objectives and management. All region, such as Great Smoky Mountains National Park pictured here, have been established as existing reserves are federally owned biosphere reserves. These are designed to provide the large control area for experimental tracts and already dedicated to biotic preserva- with which they are matched and to serve as sites for the conservation of biotic diversity. tion, ecological and environmental re- search, or, typically, both. The relative emphasis on preservation or experimen- An outstanding need is for interagency logical and environmental research, edu- tal research will vary with the area; pres- development of plans for linked reserves cation, and demonstration. It is intended ervation of biota remains the keystone in (such as between an experimental forest to be more than simply another program national park reserves, for example, as and a national park or wilderness) to see of preservation layered onto existing on October 31, 2011 experimental research does in the experi- that they are managed and used as uni- parks and reserves. The success of the mental forests designated as reserves. tary biosphere reserves and not as iso- program will depend in large measure on Indeed, it was the need for both types of lated tracts. This cooperative devel- the overall significance of the selected activities in a biotic province that led the opment is critical if the biosphere re- reserves and the degree to which they U.S. MAB group to develop the concept serve program is ever to realize its full are active sites for scientific research and of matched areas. potential, since rarely will a single tract monitoring. It may become necessary to alter atti- be able to adequately fulfill all func- tudes about and plans for the areas as tions-preservation, research, and edu- References and Notes 1. Conservation ofNatural Areas and ofthe Genet- www.sciencemag.org those responsible for their management cation-because of existing legal man- ic Material They Contain (Unesco MAB Report recognize that they are of dates and charters. The linked reserves Series, No. 12, Paris, 1973), p. 64. 2. Task Force on: Criteria and Guidelines for the worldwide as well as national or agency allow different and appropriate function- Choice and Establishment of Biosphere Re- serves (Unesco MAB Report Series, No. 22, significance. Controlling agencies must al emphasis and objectives in different Paris, 1974). thus be responsive to the needs of a reserves within a biotic province. 3. U.S. National Committee is also interested in unique and in man-modified areas, such as de- much larger community in managing The U.S. MAB 8 Committee is devel- graded areas with potential for conservation of these areas than has hitherto been the oping regional working groups to encour- genetic diversity and for experimental research on reclamation and recovery. case. age the development ofcollaborative pro- 4. R. F. Dasmann, Int. Union Conserv. Nat. Oc- Downloaded from Some actions are soon. Man- grams of this type and to stimulate the cas. Pap. No. 7 (1973); International Union for required Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources agement plans for each of the biosphere development of research and monitoring (Secretariat), ibid., No. 9 (1974). 5. M. D. F. Udvardy, Int. Union Conserv. Nat. reserves are important even if they only programs. Participants in these regional Occas. Pap. No. 18 (1975). supplement comprehensive existing groups will include not only agency ad- 6. The possibilities for manipulative research in national parks are not as limited as one might plans. These should particularly address ministrators and scientists from the bio- suppose, as anyone familiar with the research on the long-term objectives in biotic preser- sphere reserves but also academic scien- fire ecology at Everglades and Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks can attest. Nevertheless, vation, research and its support, monitor- tists who do or could use the sites.-Re- opportunities for studying the ecological effects ing and education, and the identification gional working groups will also be repre- of many practices, such as in agricul- ture and forestry, are limited. of major problems requiring managerial sented on the national committee. 7. Several ERDA tracts have been identified by the U.S. MAB 8 Committee as outstanding can- action or research. Emphasis should be didates for biosphere reserves: Arid Lands Ecol- on expanding scientific efforts in re- ogy Reserve (Washington), Oak Ridge Reserva- tion (Tennessee), and the Savannah River Reser- serves with relatively small existing re- Summary vation (South Carolina). Although ERDA has search programs. Emphasis in reserves been asked to nominate these reservations or portions of them as biosphere reserves, it has with strong programs in research and The objective of the biosphere reserve not done so. should include ade- program is to identify and protect repre- 8. Biotic provinces are as defined by Udvardy (5) experimentation with additional subdivisions by the U.S. MAB 8 quate provision for strictly reserved natu- sentative and unique segments of the Committee. 9. Since the preparation of this article, it has been ral areas for experimental controls and world's biotic provinces as major centers learned that Pawnee National Grassland will not biotic preservation. for biotic and genetic preservation, eco- become a biosphere reserve.

21 JANUARY 1977 267