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
The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...
(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 ...
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 develop ...
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 a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...
and
evolutionary ecologists, 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 distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...
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 federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...
, 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 in
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
(Germany), led by
Heinz Ellenberg. Evidence from here proved decisive in the 1980s to track down
acid rain
Acid rain is rain or any other form of Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists b ...
as a major cause of
forest decline.
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
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