284 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1316 



rodent control will be an absolute prerequisite 

 to successful dry land agriculture. 



Important as this side of the work undoubt- 

 edly is, tbe destructive or pest-control aspect 

 of the work is not the only one to wbicli 

 attention is given. Constructive measures 

 imder consideration include sucb items aa 

 game protection, with its multitudinous per- 

 plexities, biological and legislative; further 

 domestications of wild species, as ducks and 

 other game birds, deer, elk, buffalo and fur- 

 bearing mammals; possible use for food of 

 available wild animals not now so utilized; 

 artificial stimulation and increase of beneficial 

 wild species of birds and mammals; intro- 

 duction and acclimatization of birds and mam- 

 mals; administration of bird and mammalian 

 resources of zoological parks, national forests, 

 game preserves, bird reservations and national 



It wiU be readily realized that problems of 

 extreme difficulty arise in connection with 

 both the program of pest eradication and that 

 of the development and increase of beneficial 

 species, problems the solution of which de- 

 pends upon a much more adequate knowledge 

 of and control of the balance of nature than 

 man has yet been able to acquire. 



Tears ago Spencer F. Baird called attention 

 to the fact that the only rational basis for 

 fisheries administration is the complete knowl- 

 edge of aquatic creatures to be acquired by 

 intimate investigation. He emphasized the 

 fact that it would be of doubtful value to 

 study only the major forms which supported 

 fisheries and that "useful conclusions must 

 needs rest upon a broad foundation of investi- 

 gations purely scientific in character." This 

 generalization applies with at least as much 

 force to the terrestrial vertebrate faima as it 

 does to fishes. With this thought in mind, 

 the Biological Survey has for more than thirty 

 years been carrying forward investigations in 

 North America dealing primarily with the 

 geographical distribution and habits of birds 

 and mammals. 



It seems to be clear that this work should 

 not only be continued but should be expanded; 

 and that expansion may well take place in the 



direction of a more intensive investigation of 

 the relation of animal to environment on a 

 dynamic as well as static basis. 



The expansion of ecologic activities by the 

 Biological Survey and other agencies engaged 

 in biologic researches does not, of course, ex- 

 clude the prosecution of the faunal natural 

 history investigations. On the other hand 

 work in ecology implies a fairly thorough 

 knowledge of faunas and floras. It is not im- 

 likely that new methods of the ecological type 

 may be utilized profitably in connection with 

 natural history surveys. In addition to this 

 the ecologic point of view should be tried out 

 in the interpretation of distributional data. 



As compared with the plant ecologist, the 

 animal ecologist is working at a considerable 

 advantage. Though many problems of method 

 and api)roach peculiar to the animal side of 

 the work are bound to present themselves, 

 much of the way over which the animal ecolo- 

 gist must go has been traversed already by 

 his botanical colleague; and by virtue of this 

 fact it should be possible for him to avoid 

 many missteps and false leads. Instrumental 

 studies of the environment have been carried 

 forward to a very considerable extent by the 

 botanist, thus relieving the zoologist of some, 

 at least, of this fundamental labor. Further- 

 more, many of the guiding principles for re- 

 search work in plant ecology, already enun- 

 ciated by the botanist, can be adapted to the 

 field of animal ecology. 



Of course, with animals, the factor of men- 

 tality introduces a host of new problems into 

 the study which are almost wholly lacking 

 with plants. To a certain extent the new 

 difficulties resulting from this factor neutral- 

 ize the advantages derived from the fact that 

 the botanists have done pioneer work. 



The comprehensive demands of the ecologic 

 program peculiarly emphasize the desirability 

 of cooperative effort. The association of in- 

 dividual investigators who are specialists in 

 botany, chemistry, geology and meteorology, 

 as well as in zoology, will often be necessary 

 to the adequate organization of the work; and 

 it may often be advantageous for institutions 

 as well as individuals to work together. It is 



