COMPONENT RELATIONSHIPS 



principle of multiple use. The most 

 pressing demand that might best be 

 handled by this principle stems from 

 the time man has for leisure. A re- 

 sponse to population growth is a 

 shorter work period for each indi- 

 vidual. As a consequence, there will 

 be an increase not only in numbers 

 of persons but also in the time avail- 

 able to each person for constructively 

 filling leisure time. Among the ways 

 of using leisure time is to engage in 

 any one of a number of outdoor rec- 

 reational activities. The demand for 

 this type of leisure outlet is already 

 mounting and the pressure will not 

 diminish. Therefore, in designing the 

 environment it will be necessary to 

 allocate to recreation a variety of re- 

 sources that can fill these specific 

 needs as well as the more general 

 needs of the human ecosystem. 



Quantitative Analysis — The prob- 

 lems of environmental design are 

 problems of ecosystems analysis. 

 Largely through the initiative of sci- 

 entists associated with the Interna- 

 tional Biological Program, a beginning 

 has been made on the comprehensive 

 and quantitative analysis of ecosys- 

 tems. (See, for example, Figure IX-2) 

 In order to be able to guide the 

 transformation of natural ecosystems 

 to human ecosystems, detailed quan- 

 titative knowledge must be available 

 of the processes and regulations of 

 the planetary life-support system. 

 Techniques must be in hand for com- 

 prehensive surveillance and monitor- 

 ing of appropriate physical, chemical, 

 biological, and social indicators. Sim- 

 ulation models of ecosystems must 

 be available to study and predict the 

 outcomes of alternative strategies in 



environmental design. In large part, 

 these expectations can be fulfilled 

 through analysis of ecosystems. 



Criteria for Environmental Quality 

 — The quality of the environment is 

 another facet of the problems of en- 

 vironmental design. As the transfor- 

 mation from natural to human eco- 

 system proceeds, it will be necessary 

 to preserve environmental qualities 

 essential to the continuing productiv- 

 ity and vitality of the biosphere and 

 those adjunctive qualities that insure 

 the habitability of the environment. 

 At the same time it will be necessary 

 to limit the accumulation of wastes 

 in air, water, and soil and regulate 

 the use of agricultural chemicals and 

 food additives so as not to jeopardize 

 the fitness of the ecosystem. The task 

 of formulating criteria to serve as 



Requirements for Scientific 

 Activity 



Figure IX-2 — A SYSTEMS MODEL FOR A GRASSLAND ECOSYSTEM 



Science is on the threshold of real- 

 istically tackling these problems of 

 environmental design. At the very 

 least, the problems can be stated in 

 broad perspective. That in itself is a 

 start in the direction of formulating 

 approaches to their solution. 



A-disciplinarity — These problems 

 are a-disciplinary. That is, they re- 

 late at once to no particular discipline 

 yet involve many, perhaps all disci- 

 plines. The major problems of the 

 sciences concerned with environment 

 make meaningless the traditional 

 boundaries that have separated man's 

 compartmentalization of knowledge 

 and methodology. That science is on 

 the threshold of tackling a-discipli- 

 nary problems is evidenced by the 

 increasing use of such phrases as in- 

 terdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, pan- 

 disciplinary, and problem-oriented 

 configurations of diverse specialists. 

 Apparently, some scientists are ready 

 to leave their feudal baronies and join 

 in innovative configurations specifi- 

 cally focused on solving well-defined 

 problems, however complex they 

 may be. 



O extrinsic variable 

 Q intrinsic variable 

 — * mass /energy transfer 

 ---» controlling influence 

 j [ \ trophic/functional group of* variables 



HERB1V0RY 



ATMOSPHERE 



6 



RUN-OFF 



This diagram represents a significant step forward in the conceptual approach to 

 the study of an ecosystem and has proved invaluable in the design of research, 

 team organization, and analysis of data. Nonetheless, the level of sophistication 

 shown here is well below that needed for application in practical problems. The 

 complexities arising from the several hundred species and several thousand relation- 

 ships are still overly simplified, as are the interactions of the system with human 

 intervention. This figure is typical of the general level of modeling in all subfields 

 of environmental science, and demonstrates the youth of the field. 



279 



