566 



A study of all our sources of information, recommendations received, 

 replies to specific requests, and symposia on research needs leads to the 

 imperative research and study needs lie in the following major areas : 



1. Ecology, taken to include baseline studies, broad ecological 

 studies, biology, water quality, natural variablity, and interface 

 factors ; 



2. Toxicity, taken to include bioassay and methodology, sub- 

 lethal effects, and mortality phenomena ; 



3. Microbiology, taken to include the regeneration of plant nu- 

 trients, biodegradation of organic wastes, the phenomenon of eu- 

 trophication or overfertilization to cause nuisance conditions, and 

 pathogenic organisms to either humans or aquatic organisms ; 



4. Physics and mathematics, taken to include hydraulics, sedi- 

 mentation, effects of structures and physical modifications, physi- 

 cal and mathematical modeling ; 



5. Socioeconomic factors, taken to include planning, economics, 

 law, social and demographic factors and trends, resource evalua- 

 tion and allocation, and the role of technical research and study 

 in supporting a comprehensive management plan ; and 



6. Ancillary research and study needs, taken to include environ- 

 mental monitoring, methodology (both laboratory and field tech- 

 niques), data processing, training needs, and estuarine zone 

 laboratories. 



Bearing in mind that each of these categories overlaps the others to 

 a greater or lesser extent and that no one of them is truly meaningful 

 in the absence of consideration of all the others, knowledge developed 

 in any one of them must be integrated with the others to develop the 

 broad understanding of the estuarine zone necessary to implement a 

 useful management program. The sections that follow, 4 through 9, 

 will discuss each of these categories in greater detail and present a 

 relevant program of study and investigation. 



Section 4. Ecology 



Ecology is the science of the interrelationships between living or- 

 ganisms and their environment. As such, it encompasses all of the nat- 

 ural biological, physical, and chemical aspects of the estuarine and 

 coastal zones. The overall complex formed by the community of or- 

 ganisms and its environment is called an ecosystem. The discussion 

 below deals with certain aspects of the ecosystem, why these are es- 

 pecially important in a program of technical and comprehensive pro- 

 gram of estuarine management, and the most urgent knowledge gaps 

 concerning these ecosystems. The various kinds of ecological research 

 needed lie in the categories of baseline studies to provide basic data, 

 broad ecological studies to determine mechanisms and ecosystem inter- 

 relationships, biological studies to elucidate purely biological phe- 

 nomena, water quality studies to understand the physicochemical en- 

 vironment, natural variations to differentiate against man-made 

 changes, and interface factors to account for exchanges between the 

 estuarine ecosystem and its bordering influences. 



