The International Biological Programme (IBP) was a cooperative effort on the part of scientists throughout the world, whose goal was an integrated study of the basic processes of biological productivity. The challenge of meeting the increasing food needs of a growing population demands optimum productivity from natural and managed ecosystems, which has not hitherto appeared to be compatible with the maintenance of environmental quality. The basic problem in natural resource development is how to transfer the high productivity and stability characteristic of natural ecosystems to managed...