PREFACE 



Tundra covers about 5.5"7o of the land surface of the earth (Rodin et 

 al. 1975), but justification for studying it goes far beyond its areal extent. 

 Of the world's major ecosystems, tundra has the lowest temperatures 

 and the shortest growing seasons. Thus we may expect to find there the 

 limits of biological accommodation and adaptation to low temperature. 

 Largely because of the climate, which is so inhospitable for humans and 

 so unsuitable for traditional forms of agriculture, tundra areas have 

 never really been developed. However, increasing demands have been 

 placed upon tundra to provide energy, minerals, food, and recreation. 

 Often, alternative uses of tundra resources are not compatible. There are 

 conflicting demands for wilderness, recreation areas, development of 

 natural resources, and retention of the traditional life-styles of the indi- 

 genous people. 



The research within the U.S. Tundra Biome was developed as part 

 of both the U.S. IBP Analysis of Ecosystems program (National Acad- 

 emy of Sciences 1974, Blair 1977), consisting of five Biomes (Grassland, 

 Desert, Tundra, Western Coniferous Forest and Eastern Deciduous For- 

 est), and the International Tundra Biome program, comprising some 14 

 other national study sites (Rosswall and Heal 1975, Wielgolaski 1975a, b, 

 Bliss 1977, Heal and Perkins 1978, Sonesson 1980, BHss et al. 1981). 



It had become apparent by early 1970 that a field program centered 

 on the coastal tundra at Barrow, Alaska, would be required to develop 

 fully the U.S. IBP ecosystem approach. The area around Barrow had a 

 long heritage of ecological research (Reed and Ronhovde 1971, Britton 

 1973, Gunn 1973), and this research contributed significantly to the plan- 

 ning and initiation of the U.S. Tundra Biome program (Brown et al. 

 1970). Because of a combination of circumstances relating to the rapidly 

 expanding oil developments in arctic Alaska and the new wave of envi- 

 ronmental consciousness, a modest program of basic and applied re- 

 search in tundra was initiated in 1970 (Brown 1970). The following year, 

 a full-fledged Biome program was officially recognized, with Barrow 

 chosen for intensive ecosystem research. Prudhoe Bay, the site of major 

 arctic oil development, became an area for comparative coastal tundra 

 research (Brown 1975). Two alpine sites. Eagle Summit in central Alaska 

 and Niwot Ridge in the Colorado Front Range, provided comparative 

 data from high- and mid-latitude alpine tundras (see map inside front 

 cover). 



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