INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGLISH EDITION 



Volume 2 of the Biological Productivity of the Ocean was published 

 in 1977 in Russian by the Nauka Press in Moscow. The Editor-in-Chief of 

 the Volume is Dr. M. E. Vinogradov, Deputy Director of the Shirshov 

 Institute of Oceanology, USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow. During a 

 USSR-USA symposium on marine ecosystems in Tallin, Estonia, USSR, parts 

 of the volume were discussed. Our Soviet hosts responded favorably to a 

 request that the entire volume be made available in an English 

 edition. The Office of International Fisheries of the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service kindly provided us with a translation of the original 

 Russian text. Following the initial translation the volume was 

 forwarded to Dr. Vinogradov for review by each of the section authors. 

 This English edition includes photocopies of figures from the Russian 

 text. In several instances they are poorly reproduced. Also, a number 

 of terms that represent literal translations of Russian terminology may 

 not be familiar to the reader. However, rather than delay the 

 production of the volume any further, we decided to move ahead with 

 distribution in its present form so as to make available to a wider 

 scientific audience the results of a synthesis of a considerable number 

 of marine ecosystem studies by Soviet scientists not otherwise readily 

 available in English. 



The volume is divided into two parts. Part 1 deals with the 

 Ecology of Marine Communities, including chapters on the ecological 

 concepts, the structure and development of pelagic, benthic, and coral 

 reef communities in different global regions and from several 

 viewpoints, including the adaptive significance of schooling in the sea 

 (Chapters I, II, and III). Primary and secondary production is 

 discussed in Chapter IV. Part 1 concludes with a treatment of ecosystem 

 models in Chapter V. 



Part 2 focuses on Human Activity with a discussion on the 

 potentials for increasing yields from fishery resources in Chapter I and 

 the actual and potential impacts of pollution on marine ecosystems in 

 Chapter II. 



The Volume represents an extensive synthesis of Soviet literature 

 dealing with marine ecosystems which is discussed in relation to 

 contemporary ideas of marine ecologists in other countries. An 

 extensive listing of references in Russian and in English that supports 

 the syntheses is included. 



We are indebted to our Soviet colleagues for the many hours spent 

 reviewing and correcting the English version of their chapters. A 

 special thanks is extended to Dr. M. E. Vinogradov for his willingness 

 to see the project through to completion following considerable 



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