PREFACE 



productivity. Many of these estimates are crude, a fact that 

 emphasizes only that the science of the biosphere is still 

 primitive, despite its obvious importance. 



The symposium was followed by another meeting of special- 

 ists who prepared a summary for The Institute of Ecology. The 

 summary has been reproduced here as an appendix. 



Many of our colleagues contributed generously to the meeting 

 and have assisted us in publication. Special thanks go to Virginia 

 Sayre, Jack Craig, Virginia Diebel, Helen Kondratuk, and Irene 

 Rosati of Brookhaven who skillfully tended to the details of the 

 conference. For coordinating and preparing the proceedings of 

 this symposium for publication, we especially thank Anne 

 Goulden, Editorial Branch, Technical Information Center, U. S. 

 Atomic Energy Commission. 



George M. Woodwell 

 Erene V. Pecan 



Brookhaven National Laboratory 



IV 



