4. Special Environments. The outstanding examples in this category are the specialized and 

 unique communities living aroung hydrothermal vents. Scientists continue to be fascinated by 

 the diversity of unusual life styles and unique adaptations of these organisms. As new 

 hyperthermal and isothermal vent environments are discovered, we can expect further insights 

 into basic phenomena involving symbiosis, sulfide metabolism, the nature and pace of evolution, 

 and adaptation to extreme environments. The complex organization and extremely high 

 productivity of the rich, diverse coral reef fauna also demand further study Other specialized 

 environments that will continue to command interest include localized upwelling regions, 

 sub-surface oxygen minimum zones, and seagrass and kelp forests. 



The potential applications to biotechnology of organisms adapted to specialized environments 

 cannot be underestimated. 



5. Large Marine Ecosystems. Compreheshive investigations of marine ecosystems through 

 interdisciplinary approaches are an important part of the Biological Oceanography program. The 

 percentage of total awarded dollars for such research has fluctuated between 25 and 40% over 

 the past 5 years. Large interdisciplinary programs were funded through the International 

 Decade for Ocean Exploration (IDOE) in the 1970's and have been administered as OSRS 

 programs since 1981 . The IDOE phase-out was followed initially by a decline in dollars spent on 

 multiinvestigator, multiinstitutional awards in biological oceanography. However, increasing 

 numbers of large interdisciplinary programs have been funded since 1 981 . 



Recently concluded large programs in which biological oceanographers had major involvement 

 include Warm Core Rings, Organization of Persistent Upwelling Systems OPUS), and Planktonic 

 Rate Processes in Oligotrophic Oceans (PRPOOS). Current large programs include the Vertical 

 Exchange Program (VERTEXO, SUPER, and Microbial Exchanges and Coupling in Coastal Atlantic 

 Systems (MECCAS) for the water column, and Hydrothermal Vents for the benthos. Future 

 basinwide interdisciplinary studies are projected for the Indian Ocean, where predictable 

 regular monsoonal upwellings cause intense production and extreme oxygen minimum layers, 

 and for higher latitudes, where new production is likely to be a much higher proportion of the 

 total. The phasing in of ocean and coastal flux and recruitment processes studies, described 

 below, will bring greater emphasis on large ecosystems and interdisciplinary research. It is 

 also vital, however, to maintain the core of individual investigator research. 



M. Critical Needs of the Core Program 



Special funds (see the tables) are necessary to supplement core program funding in all the areas 

 addressed in Section II. B of the Long-Range Plan. Two of these are highlighted below as 

 particularly urgent. 



1. Biochemistry, Chemical Ecology, and Marine Biotechnology. There is an 

 immediate need for substantially enlarged research support to accommodate the accelerating 

 numbers of exciting proposals in this burgeoning field. Increasingly, biological oceanographers 

 are employing the techniques of analytical biochemistry to studies of microbial ecology, 

 sediment biogeochemistry, metabolic biochemistry, and chemically-mediated organism 

 interactions, and to their applications in biotechnology. 



37 



