COMPONENT RLI.ATIONSHIPS 



under way by a group on board the 

 R. V. Alpha Helix. 



Instrumentation — We are reason- 

 ably well equipped, especially in 

 physiology, to undertake antarctic 

 studies, although details of apparatus 

 can always be refined. One problem 

 that seems to plague divers in partic- 

 ular is the vulnerability of photo- 

 graphic equipment in the cold antarc- 



tic waters; various kinds of seals 

 continue to break down and put 

 cameras out of commission. We 

 need some functioning under-water 

 photomonitoring systems for the 

 dangerous antarctic waters in order 

 to obtain information under winter 

 conditions near the bases. 



Manpower — Our principal re- 

 quirement is interested manpower in 



order to expand field ecolog 

 grams in the next five years b 

 duce data relevant to theoretical 

 ideas in ecology at a scale to keep up 

 with such work elsewhere. Obvi- 

 ously, there is need for some sort of 

 ecological monitoring to help us 

 check on the worldwide deterioration 

 of our environment. In the antarctic, 

 this activity would also provide data 

 of basic and theoretical importance. 



Systems Approaches to Understanding the Oceans and Marine Productivity 



The ability of man to affect the 

 biological character of the near shore 

 regions is universally recognized; 

 polluted harbors and lagoons turn 

 blue water to green from enhanced 

 production of algae. Man's ability to 

 add potentially significant quantities 

 of manufactured materials, some of 

 which are biologically active, has 

 been acquired only recently, and rec- 

 ognition of this ability has been 

 startling to scientists and laymen 

 alike. Nevertheless, this unpleasant 

 news is true, with DDT providing 

 the most spectacular and potentially 

 harmful example recognized so far. 

 However, large quantities of an indus- 

 trially useful class of chemical com- 

 pounds, polychlorinated biphenyls 

 (PCB), are also being added to the 

 sea. 



The DDT experience suggests that 

 the marine ecosystem is highly vul- 

 nerable in two areas: (a) the micro- 

 scopic plants or phytoplankton that 

 form the basis for the biological 

 productivity of the sea, and (b) the 

 reproductive stages of marine ani- 

 mals, beginning with those grazing 

 on the phytoplankton and extending 

 as far as the birds. 



The phytoplankton, as the green 

 plants of the sea, are intimately in- 

 volved not only with the production 

 of food organisms in the sea but with 

 atmospheric processes as well — for 

 example, the production of oxygen 

 and the absorption of carbon dioxide. 

 The optical qualities of the sea sur- 

 face also are strongly influenced by 



the amount of phytoplankton pres- 

 ent. Preliminary experiments and ob- 

 servations suggest that the range of 

 sensitivity of marine phytoplankton 

 extends to concentrations as low as 

 one part per billion, coinciding nicely 

 with man's current capacity to add 

 exotic materials to the sea. Figure 

 VIII— 3 illustrates this sensitivity. 



The role of the ocean as a source 

 of food, especially of protein, and as 

 a means of livelihood for fishermen 

 needs no elaboration. Large-scale 

 changes in the level of production of 

 phytoplankton or in species composi- 

 tion are certain to be reflected rapidly 

 in the populations of fish. Other eco- 

 nomic and health considerations arise 

 in connection with the pollution of 

 the sea near bathing beaches. 



The Status of Simulation Modeling 



From the foregoing discussion, the 

 marine ecosystem appears as a com- 

 plex biological system interacting 

 with its immediate physical environ- 

 ment and with the atmosphere. The 

 use of high-speed digital computers 

 in conjunction with simulation models 

 of oceanic productivity and of sub- 

 units such as coastal regions and 

 upwelling areas is now possible; it 

 offers the only real hope of obtain- 

 ing predictive capacity for this im- 

 portant ecosystem. 



Although the many observations 

 of plant productivity made in the 

 past twenty years have yielded re- 



liable general patterns, the dynamics 

 of marine production is poorly un- 

 derstood. The simulation model 

 approach has been discovered by 

 biological oceanographers relatively 

 recently, largely as a result of the 

 U.S. effort in the International Bio- 

 logical Program. One interdiscipli- 

 nary group involving meteorologists, 

 physical oceanographers, biological 

 oceanographers, and fisheries experts 

 is engaged in the construction of a 

 series of simulation models of upwell- 

 ing regions, where a disproportion- 

 ately large share of the world's fish- 

 eries resources are located. This 

 group appears to be the only one 

 engaged in a serious program of this 

 nature. 



The relatively strong field of the- 

 oretical physical oceanography has 

 provided a mathematical basis suf- 

 ficiently sound to enable at least one 

 computer simulation model of the 

 Pacific oceanic circulation to be built, 

 with the result that all known cur- 

 rents appear with approximately the 

 correct transport rates. Such models 

 can provide the necessary hydro- 

 dynamic base for ocean ecosystem 

 models. However, a large part of the 

 theoretical formulation necessary for 

 biological modeling has never been 

 developed to a satisfactory degree. 



Recently, a considerable amount 

 of productive research has been car- 

 ried out in which the sea is examined 

 from the viewpoint of continuous 

 culture theory, the latter studied in- 

 tensively for industrial and sewage 



233 



