estuarine ch funding with less than 50%of the total available funds, academia has produced in the last five years more than 50%of the research in this area
Charles B. Offcer Dartmouth College Hanover, N.H. 03755
L Eugene Cronin Chesapeake Research Consortium Annapolis, Md. 21403 Robert B. Big@ University of Delaware Newark, Del. 19711 John H. Ryther Woods Hole Oceanowaohic Institution Woods Hole, Mass. 02543 I
.
Estuaries and coastal waters have a historical and continuing importance to human activities and to marine ecology. Two-thirds of the larger cities of the world are located on or near estuaries and one-third of the US. population lives and works close to them. As a consequence, today’s principal marine pollution problems are related to estuaries and their nearby riverine and coastal waters. It is essential to have a thorough understanding of the ecosystems of estuarine and coastal areas and the processes affecting them so that intelligent environmental decisions can be made. Both fundamental and practical research about the estuaries and coastal waters of the nation is urgently needed. Concern along these lines has been 1282 Environmental Science 6 Technobgy
demonstrated by a variety of congressional and executive actions over the past 10 years. There has been a substantial increase in the number of federal agencies and laboratories working on some of the more immediate aspectsof estuarine problems and in the number of research projects carried on by these agencies. The academic community, however, has exceptional and sometimes unique capabilities for solving many of these problems, particularly those of a more basic nature. Therefore, an innovative and effective mechanism should be created for attracting and holding the interest of academia, for stimulating their research proposals, and for assuring fair evaluation and adequate funding. There has been a dichotomy in approach to marine pollution problems between the research community and those responsible for environmental decision making. On the one hand, the research community has stressed the necessity for continued research to add to the body of knowledge that can be drawn upon when specific problems arise. On the other hand, the responsible environmental agencies have been faced with obtaining data and bestavailable solutions to problems as they arise. The net result has been that research carried on by government laboratories has often been restricted to immediate problem solving. The discussion in this article is divided into two parts: first, an exami-
nation of the affiliations of the individuals who have made recent contributions to estuarine and coastal research and of the sources of funding for that research and, second, a brief history of the past IO years of estuarine research and some suggestions for procedural changes that might improve research results. Contributions to estuarine researeb Our understanding of the living resources and of the variety of biological, chemical, geological, and physical processes that occur in estuaries is drawn primarily from past research. Research is here defined as rigorous and competent investigation that has been carried through to peer review and publication. This process creates the necessary body of knowledge that can be drawn upon when specific problems arise or new tasks must be accomplished. Our ability to deal effectively with specific problems is limited by the quantity and quality of such published research. As the uses of estuarine and coastal water intensify, it is appropriate to review the sources of the new knowledge that becomes a part of the public reservoir. Identification of the research sources that have been productive can help to assure that they will be encouraged to do research in the future. The resultsof research are produced in several formats. In this article, formal publication and what is called
0013-936X18110915-1282$01.25/0 @ 1981 American Chemical Society
“gray” literature-progress reports, project reports, and institutional publications-are defined as two separate categories. The former is the generally accepted method for presenting research results. The publication process includes the important ingredients of review by an editor and by independent professional individuals capable of judging the originality and quality of the contents. Further, and of utmost importance, publication assures that research results are added to the body of scientific literature that is widely and readily available. Reports and internal publications also serve a useful purpose. Their distribution and availability, however, is usually limited and, as a consequence, the individuals who write such reports often seek formal publication of their research. Therefore, we have examined the appropriate scientific, engineering, and technical journals and edited volumes (symposia, etc.) published in the last five years and have noted all research contributions by US. authors that concern estuaries, associated rivers, and coastal waters. The summarized results are given in Table 1 along with a list of the 36 journals and 19 edited volumes examined. Relevant publications appear occasionally in other journals and collections, but this large sample appears to be representative. The most striking discovery is that the academic community has produced most (77%) of the refereed research literature on estuaries-evidence of the importanceof academic sources of new knowledge. The fact that there have been relatively few contributions to estuarine research literature from sources other than academia should be tempered by the following three considerations. First, many agencies produce other kinds of publications; many of these have not been included here simply because they are not readily available. An attempt at such an assessment has been made by examining the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) abstracts of federal reports for the past five years. These results have also been included in Table 1, but they do not significantly alter the conclusions reached from an examination of the published literature alone. Second, the merit systems for advancement within academic, federal, and industrial research laboratories are different. Academia is noted for its “publish-or-perish” position. In government laboratories, project management per se often takes precedence over formal publication and, in industrial laboratories dependent on federal funds, the amount of funds appropriated is un-
ffiiiatlons of U.S. authors who have in the past blished research on estuaries and associated rivers
joMai articies of articles in edited volumes Of
972 335
158 97
Ik. e n g h r and ~ technical journals 1. Envhn. MicmbM. 24
SCE J. Envimn. Eng. 9
J.GeophyJ.Res. 32 J.Mar.Res. 26 J.phvs.Ocean 21
Mar.B&f. 155 Mar. chem. 5 Mar. -1. 17 Marine Techno. Soc. J. Pestk. h#onit. J. 1 I Pho&g.ER 12 Science 16
m0chim.Acf.a 18
Tmm. Am.F M . Soc. 1: WaterRes. 26
E d M volume8 &posai of Sewage hom Sea Outfalls 16 Estuaries Geophysics and the Envimnment 9 Estuarineinteractions 34
Marine Pollution and Marine Disposal 12 EstuarineRocasses 71 Marine Pollution and Sea Life 35 Marine Sediment Transpolt and EshlarineResearch 61 Environmental Management 12 Estuarine Transpat Rcceses 14 Middle Atlantic Continental Shelf and theNewYwkBigM 38 Fhst lntematlonaiconferenceon Toxic Nubients and Eutrophication 2 DinoflagellateBlooms 36 FjordoCeancgraphy 14 San Francisco Bay, the Urbanized Estuary 22 clvaodynamicsof Fjords ary’ The Effects of Tropical Stwm AgrEstuaries 10 on Chesapeake Bay 41
Volume 15. Number 11. November 1981
1288
icles concerning e!
les and associated rivers and
derstandably of prime importance. Third, and of greatest consequence, the available scientific talent within government laboratories is often assigned to projects that need immediate attention. While using substantial funds, many such projects become data-collecting exercises and respond only to the problem at hand; research is frequently subverted even though the funds used have been allocated for this purpose. Sources of funding Sources of support for published estuarine research are also of interest. Table 2 lists the acknowledged sources of primary funding for the same group of papers that are listed in Table 1. The research support comes from a wide variety of agencies and institutions. The column labeled “not given” in Table 2 refers principally to academic contributions for which no external source of funding was acknowledged in the publication; it is estimated that at least half this column represents unsupported research carried on by the parent academic institution. Finally, Table 3 lists the monetary support given by various agencies of the federal government for estuarine and coastal research. The most comprehensive summary of investment by the federal government can be found in the “Catalog of Federal Ocean Pollution Research, Development and Monitoring Program, Fiscal Years 1978-80,” prepared in August 1979 by the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology. The projects listed in this report are funded at a total of $164 million, of which $131 million are ascribed to research. The first two columns of Table 3 were derived from the 969 individual entries in the catalog and relate specifically to estuarine research projects. The academic portion represents 37% of these total federal estuarine-related funds. It is understandably difficult to obtain a thorough index of estuarine and coastal research funding. The above source is considered to be the best available, but it is incomplete. For comparison, we have used another source-the listings in “Estuarine Pollution Research, LA98-31, Smithsonian Science Information Exchange,” dated 1980. These are included as the third and fourtb columns of Table 3. The total dollar amounts are less and the distribution is somewhat different, but the academic portion remains essentially the same-31%, as compar,ed with 37%. Neither source includes federal laboratory expenses that are not covered
1284
Environmental Science 8 Technology
within specific projects, nor monetary contributions to academic laboratories made by universities and others. The information in the three tables allows various comparisons to be made between the amount of published research and the investment made. These are left to the reader. Comparisons, however, should take into account the facts that project reports have not been included in the tabulations and that substantial funds allocated for research have been used for projects with immediate goals, the results of which often do not appear at all in the scientific literature or appear only in the “gray” literature. Nevertheless, the following conclusions can be drawn from this data assemblage. The sources of support for published estuarine research are highly diverse. The National Science Foundation is the credited source of support for more publications than any other agency and, of all major sources, achieves the lowest cost per publication. Without precise data, there is substantial indication that academic publication is accomplished in a costeffective manner. Again, without precise data, it appears that the available scientific talent within the government laboratory system has been utilized for immediate projects and that much research that might have resulted from the funding for these projects has been subverted. Finally, periodic assessments of the sources of funding, of the productivity of the various segments of the research community, and of the cost-effectiveness of various support strategies can be of value for making research investment policies. Federal and academic cooperation Ten years ago, various considerations led to legislation aimed at, among other things, improving our understanding of the marine environment so that decisions related to environmental preservation and protection could be made. I n 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were created. Most of the federal research facilities dealing with marine environmental research have been built up over the past decade. These include the EPA Environmental Research Laboratories at Corvallis, Ore., at Gulf Breeze, Fla., and at Narragansett, R.I., and expansion of the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, and the various National Marine Fisheries Service
Laboratories. All of these laboratories are large and well equipped. There has been no comparable federal support for increases in academic research facilities or programs. If federal agencies and the academic community are partners in research, then why has the academic community received such limited funding? There are a variety of reasons. Both EPA and NOAA are relatively new federal agencies. Their emphasis, to date, has been on building internally. They have had direct control of the mandated research funds and have chosen to build their own facilities. They have had to respond to immediate problems with severe time constraints; in several respects they have not had the opportunity to examine the longer-term aspects of fundamental research that are essential to building our knowledge of the marine environment. Their actions can be contrasted to those of some of the older agencies, particularly the Navy and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). I n both of these agencies, the importance of fundamental research to their specific objectives has long been recognized and supported through the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the university contracts office of AEC, now part of the Department of Energy (DOE). The precedents exemplified by ONR and AEC could serve as examples of.federa1 and academic cooperation to meet the objectives of the environmental agencies. Fundamental research is essential to enlarging our understanding of marine ecosystems. In spite of the limited federal funds available, the academic community has made significant contributions to this understanding and has done so economically. There is a need for an innovative and effective mechanism to attract and hold the interest of academia and to encourage those competent scientists who could contribute to estuarine research. Academic and federal laboratory scientists and those responsible for environmental decisions should cooperate to identify the important fundamental problems amenable to solution and to stimulate interinstitutional and interdisciplinary cooperation on both a regional and national scale. Estuarine research has biological, chemical, geological, physical, economic, and engineering aspects, and effective research requires that coordinated attention be given to all of these. Acknowledgment Before publication, this article was read and commented on for ap opriatenss and suitability as an ES&T Eature article by
Franpis M. M. Morel, professor, Civil Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge, Mass. 02139.
Charles B. Offleer ( l e f ) is a research professor in ihe Earth Sciences Depariment ai Darimouth College. He is presently a member a/ ihe Ocean Sciences Board and ihe Geophysics Siudy Cornmiiiee a/ ihe National Academy o/Sciences. His research interests include marine geophysics, hydrodynamics o/esiuaries and associaied coasial waters, and interdisciplinary biological. chemical, geological, and physical processes that occur in estuaries. L Eugene Cronin (right)is direcior o/ihe Chesapeake Research Consoriium, which includes The Johns Hopkins Universiiy, Uniuersity a/ Maryland, Smiihsonian Insiituiion. and Virginia lnsiiiuie o/Marine Science o/ihe College o/ William and Mary. He has been in estuarine research and research adminisiraiion since 1940, principally at ihe Chesapeake Biological Lnboraiory and ihe Marine Lnboraiory a/ the Uniuersiiy a/ Delaware. He is pas1 president o/ihe Esiuarine Research Federation.
Q. Ir Robert B. Biggs (le/!) is an associate pro/essor ai ihe College o/Marine Siudies a/ ihe Uniuersity a/ Delaware and also served as associate dean/or academic a/fairs/rom 1972 io 1980 at ihe college. His research interesis include major element and trace meial geochemisiry o/estuarine bottom and suspended sediments, coasial geology, and transport and/aies ofsuspended organic and inorganic matter in est uaries. John H.Ryiher (right) is a senior scieniist and direcior a/ ihe Coasial Research Cenier ofihe Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. A marine ecologisi and biological oceanographer by training and experience, Dr. Ryiher has specialized in the primary productivity of ihe oceans, phyioplankron physiology and nuiriiion. and nuirient cycling in estuarine. coastal. and oceanic environments. More recenily, he has become involved in applied problems involving coasial marine polluiion and euirophicaiion, mariculture, and marine biomass production. Volume 15, Number 11. November 1981 1285
