PART IX — TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS 



guidelines for designing environ- 

 mental quality has only just begun. 

 In part, information on which to base 

 these criteria will emerge from the 

 analysis of ecosystems. However, 

 more attention must be devoted to 

 the biology of man, for he is the least 

 systematically studied organism from 

 the viewpoints of function and be- 

 havior. 



Leisure Science — In terms of ful- 

 filling man's needs and requirements, 

 systematic studies must be under- 

 taken of what has been called leisure 

 science. The constructive and re- 

 warding use of leisure time will be 

 one of the central problems of en- 

 vironmental design and scientists 

 have just begun to look at this prob- 

 lem area. The gamut of the problems 

 of leisure includes the physiology, 

 psychology, and sociology of leisure, 

 recreational facilities and resources, 

 and tourism. 



Implementation 



We have examined the problems of 

 environmental design in broad per- 

 spective. We have noted that there 

 is a readiness on the part of scientists 

 to become involved in the compre- 

 hensive and complex tasks that must 

 be undertaken for the solution of 

 these problems. In particular, we 

 have pointed to an emergence of such 

 studies as ecosystems analysis, cri- 

 teria of environmental quality, human 

 biology, and leisure science. What 

 might be done to implement the study 

 of the problems of environmental 

 design? 



Because the problems of environ- 

 mental design are adisciplinary, it 

 will be necessary to develop institu- 

 tions wherein problem-oriented con- 

 figurations of scholars can be brought 

 together to work effectively and effi- 

 ciently in teaching and research. The 



administration of these institutions is 

 most important, for being able to 

 manage adisciplinary work is just as 

 relevant as knowing how to tackle 

 problem-oriented studies. It can be 

 argued, for example, that present-day 

 crises are just as much managerial 

 crises as they are environmental ones. 



These institutional formulations are 

 being explored in the federal estab- 

 lishment, in state governments, and at 

 colleges and universities. Progress 

 has been slow because traditional 

 values and alignments are difficult to 

 overcome. Innovation creates inse- 

 curity among established feudal ba- 

 ronies. Allocation of limited finan- 

 cial resources between the old and 

 the new strains both institutional for- 

 mulations. Because there is a growing 

 commitment to developing innova- 

 tive problem-oriented institutions, it 

 would seem most important that this 

 commitment be realistically and re- 

 sponsibly encouraged. 



Maintenance of the Biosphere, with Special 

 Reference to Arid Lands 



For centuries, man has been im- 

 posing unusual stresses on the eco- 

 systems with which he comes into 

 contact. Probably no other organism 

 has so rapidly, and on such a world- 

 wide scale, forced far-reaching 

 changes on ecosystems previously in 

 equilibrium. By removing particular 

 species of plants, clearing land for 

 crops, changing the balance between 

 herbivores and their predators, alter- 

 ing the patterns of water movement, 

 or spreading poisons through the 

 landscape, man has imposed his will 

 on nature. 



But man's will has been short- 

 sighted. Accustomed in most of the 

 workaday world to see the results of 

 his efforts in hours, days, or, at the 

 most, in the interval from seedtime to 

 harvest, he has not realized that 

 ecosystems operate on a time-scale 

 which, though short by evolutionary 



standards, is long by his own. It may 

 take a generation or a century before 

 the more far-reaching effects of his 

 modification of ecosystems become 

 fully apparent. In order to attain 

 wisdom in his relations with natural 

 ecosystems he must, consequently, 

 develop long-sightedness — he must 

 find means of predicting what the 

 effect of his actions will be, not to- 

 morrow, but next century. 



The arid lands constitute a part of 

 the biosphere that is more vulnerable 

 than most. The desert areas of the 

 Near and Middle East stand today 

 as a lasting reminder of man's ability 

 to modify — albeit unintentionally — 

 this part of his environment. It is 

 only by an attempt to regard eco- 

 systems as wholes, and to develop an 

 understanding of their dynamics, that 

 such dangers can be averted and wise 

 use of these delicately poised areas 



can be assured. To do so requires 

 a reversal of what has for decades 

 been the main current of scientific 

 endeavor. 



Analytical vs. Systems Approaches 



When man looks at and considers 

 his surroundings, he feels impelled to 

 divide them into discrete units which 

 he can classify and name. His mode 

 of thought is based on verbalized 

 categories and is not adapted to con- 

 tinuous variation and interrelation. 

 Furthermore, just as giving something 

 a name may tend to divert attention 

 from the thing to the name one has 

 given it, so categorization of one's 

 surroundings diverts attention from 

 the real whole to the categories into 

 which it has been divided. 



Science has long been concerned 

 mainly with these discrete entities 



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