Preface 
This volume contains project reports on 
research sponsored and coordinated under the 
U. S. Tundra Biome Program of the Internation- 
al Biological Program (IBP) at Prudhoe Bay, 
Alaska. 
Comprehensive Biome research was initiated 
at Barrow in 1970. The Prudhoe Bay area was 
selected as a second arctic coastal plain site in 
order to gather comparative and validation data 
for the more comprehensive Barrow investiga- 
tions. In addition, the Prudhoe area was essen- 
tially unknown ecologically, and the program's 
presence in northern Alaska, with its large eco- 
logical research team, afforded an excellent op- 
portunity to gather data of a basic bioenviron- 
mental nature at Prudhoe. To this end, a series 
of studies ranging from one to three summers’ 
duration and reconnaissance observations were 
conducted in areas easily accessible from the 
road network. 
Funding of these Prudhoe research efforts 
has been largely shared amongst industry 
sources, the State of Alaska, and the National 
Science Foundation. Without exception, the 
logistical costs at Prudhoe were paid from funds 
provided by the Prudhoe Bay Environmental 
Subcommittee which, since 1970, have amount- 
ed to $282,000. Portions of these funds have 
been used to support direct research, and 
individual reports in this volume acknowledge 
their use. However, the magnitude of the 
Biome’s program at Prudhoe would not have 
been possible without the core-funded, National 
Science Foundation support of the 5-year 
Tundra Biome Program, a program jointly sup- 
ported at NSF by the Office of Polar Programs 
(OPP) and the International Biological Program 
(Ecosystems Analysis Section). This NSF pro- 
gram was largely funded for the Barrow inten- 
sive site which, in turn, provided personnel for 
the Prudhoe research. The Barrow and, sub- 
sequently, the Prudhoe projects were supported 
in the field by and provided with laboratory 
equipment from the Naval Arctic Research 
Laboratory at Barrow. Partial funding for the 
Prudhoe research has been derived from the 
State of Alaska and from nonrestrictive grants 
from individual oil companies to the University 
of Alaska’s Tundra Biome Center (Dr. George C. 
West, Director). The following is a list of con- 
tributing companies through 1974: 
Atlantic Richfield Company 
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company 
BP Alaska, Inc. 
Cities Service Company 
Exxon Company, USA (Humble Oil & 
Refining Company) 
Gulf Oil Corporation 
Marathon Oil Company 
Mobil Oil Corporation 
Prudhoe Bay Environmental 
Subcommittee 
Shell Oil Company 
Standard Oil Company of California 
Standard Oil (Indiana) Foundation, Inc. 
Sun Oil Company 
We wish to acknowledge the many individu- 
als and companies involved at Prudhoe who 
made the conduct of this program possible. The 
operators, BP Alaska, Inc. (Western Section) and 
Atlantic Richfield Company (Eastern Section), 
