ticable means and measures, including financial and technical 

 assistance, in a manner calculated to foster and promote the 

 general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which 

 man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the 

 social, economic, and other requirements of present and future 

 generations of Americans." 



It is this sense of responsibility which led to the original charter for this 

 report. 



Much of this contemporary concern with environmental issues, as 

 reflected in NEPA, has created an enlarged requirement for ecological 

 knowledge and the work of ecologists. Unfortunately, as a result there has 

 been a blurring of the terms "ecological" and "environmental." Ecology is a 

 science. It is concerned with the organization and function of whole living 

 organisms as they relate to each other and to their environment. An expan- 

 sion of this description appears on pages (29-34) of the report, which extends 

 the ecological concept to include human participation in ecosystems. 



Clearly the scope of ecological science is very large. Basic ecological 

 research may cover living systems as large as many thousands of square 

 miles, such as biome studies of the artic, grasslands, or desert; to as small 

 and discrete as the interior of a single cell, studied in viral ecology. In its 

 applied aspects ecology may help us to know, for example, the relationships 

 between human populations, atmospheric pollutants and disease or ways to 

 increase the annual yield of fish from the sea. 



The purview of ecological issues in this report was not meant to nor 

 could it include the total scope of ecology. It is a first cut attempt to sift 

 through the immense array of issues and identify clear and pressing matters 

 believed to be crucial at a particular point in time. Likewise the listing of 

 ecological R&D by Federal agencies is not intended to represent a definition 

 of the limits of ecology, but is a preliminary categorization for the purposes 

 of this pioneer report. 



The title of this report is "The Role of the Federal Government in 

 Ecological Research," and the sources of impetus for activity at the Federal 

 level in the coordination and support of ecological research, both descriptive 

 and applied, are varied. Part of the rationale for Federal involvement relates 

 to the nature of ecology itself. It has become evident that ecological regimes, 

 ecosystem boundaries and ecological impacts or problems do not correlate 

 with existing patterns of ownership or with political and institutional 

 frameworks. Not only do ecological concerns often cover more than one local 

 or State jurisdiction (for example, in connection with pollution in an entire 

 watershed, or land use for a region), but they often involve more than one na- 

 tion. Recently needs have arisen for ecological research and planning on an 

 international or global level in regard to such matters as atmospheric con- 

 tamination, pollution of the oceans, energy resources, and use of natural 

 resources such as marine mammals and fisheries. 



In addition, the study of ecological processes often involves time spans 

 and funding requirements which fall outside the practical or reasonable 

 area of responsibility of an individual industry, planning commission, or 

 other non-Federal entity. The Federal government can often enter creative 

 partnership arrangements with the private sector, or with State or local 

 governments to focus on ecological problems. 



vi 



