The International Biological Program (IBP) was an effort between 1964 and 1974 to coordinate large-scale ecological and environmental studies. Organized in the wake of the successful
International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-1958, the International Biological Program was an attempt to apply the methods of
big science to
ecosystem ecology
Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of living ( biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components s ...
and pressing environmental issues.
The IBP was organized under the leadership of
C. H. Waddington
Conrad Hal Waddington (8 November 1905 – 26 September 1975) was a British developmental biologist, paleontologist, geneticist, embryologist and philosopher who laid the foundations for systems biology, epigenetics, and evolutionary devel ...
beginning in 1962 and officially started in 1964, with the goal of exploring "The Biological Basis of Productivity and Human Welfare". In its early years, Canadian and European ecologists were the main participants; by 1968, the United States also became heavily involved. However, unlike other more successful applications of the big science model of scientific research, the IBP lacked a clear, socially and scientifically pressing goal. Many biologists, particularly
molecular biologists
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...
and
evolutionary ecologists
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
, were sharply critical of the IBP, which they viewed as throwing money at ill-defined or relatively unimportant problems and reducing the freedom of scientists to choose their own research projects.
The main results of the IBP were five
biome
A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...
studies, the largest of which were the
Grassland Biome project and the
Eastern Deciduous Forest Biome project (both of which had ties to
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research an ...
, which provided
tracer isotopes for nutrient- and energy-flow experiments). Though the impact of these studies was modest, the IBP marked a dramatic increase in the scale of funding for ecosystem ecology, which remained high (relative to earlier levels) even after the conclusion of the program in June 1974. Far more influential than any of the IBP biome studies was contemporary
Hubbard Brook ecosystem study of 1963-1968, which—lacking the hierarchical organization of IBP projects—grew gradually according to individual scientists' interest and involved more informal collaboration.
[Hagen, ''An Entangled Bank'', pp. 175-186]
One of the most influential IBP projects in Europe was the
Solling Project
The Solling () is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Inside Lower Saxony it is the second largest range of hills ...
in
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
(Germany), led by
Heinz Ellenberg
Heinz Ellenberg (1 August 1913 in Harburg (Elbe) – 2 May 1997 in Göttingen) was a German biologist, botanist and ecologist. Ellenberg was an advocate of viewing ecological systems through holistic means. He developed 9–point scales for ratin ...
. Evidence from here proved decisive in the 1980s to track down
acid rain as a major cause of
forest decline
Forest dieback (also "", a German loan word) is a condition in trees or woody plants in which peripheral parts are killed, either by pathogens, parasites or conditions like acid rain, drought, and more. These episodes can have disastrous conse ...
.
In tropical areas, the LAMTO project held by French professor in Ivory Coast provided a thorough analysis of the savannah energy budget and a profound knowledge of almost all biodiversity present in this savannah.
See also
*
Human Adaptability
*
*
United States Marine Mammal Program The United States Marine Mammal Program is an organization developed by the United States National Committee and the International Marine Mammal Working Group of the International Biological Program in 1969, for the study of marine mammal
Mari ...
Notes
References
*Hagen, Joel B. ''An Entangled Bank: The Origins of Ecosystem Ecology''. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992.
* "The Structure and Function of a Tropical Savannah Ecosystem". In :
Tropical Ecological Systems: Trends in Terrestrial and Aquatic Research'. Ed. F. Golley, New York, Springer, {{ISBN, 978-3-642-88535-8, (1975).
*''International Biological Programme Synthesis Series Vols 1-24''
recently republished
External links
- Description of the IBP in The National Academies online archives
History of Earth science
History of biology
1974 disestablishments
Research projects
Projects established in 1964