Starting with some clarifying definitions of the senses in which the key words in its title are used, this paper outlines the concept and actuality of The Biosphere, which is defined as ‘The integrated living and life-supporting system comprising the peripheral envelope of Planet Earth together with its surrounding atmosphere so far down, and up, as any form of life exists naturally.’ Two ‘round- dozens’ of the key facts about The Biosphere are then given—including Mankind's constitution of an integral part of it as well as utter dependence on it and yet increasing threat to it—with emphasis on the vital importance of understanding and fostering it as our own and Nature's sole life-support. To such understanding and concomitant fostering for survival, education is the key, and to such ends the World Campaign for The Biosphere was developed through various stages and finally declared on World Environment Day 1982 with the No. 1 aim of making the concept and reality of ‘Our Biosphere intimately and personally meaningful to people of all ages and cultures throughout the world.’

In less than two decades, the concepts of limits to growth and of the necessity of an ecologically sustainable economic order have gained international recognition. These concepts are not yet understood by most people or most governments, but belief in the necessity for planning for a sustainable future is growing.

Several lines of strategy are necessary to obtain a truly global commitment to sustainable programmes of development that will simultaneously protect The Biosphere. Among those now undertaken are the World Conservation Strategy, the international environmental education movement formalized at Tbilisi in 1977, and the World Campaign for The Biosphere.

Educational efforts are necessary but insufficient to move the world into an ecologically sustainable mode of behaviour. Political action that reflects moral conviction roused by scientific information will also be necessary. Safeguarding the environmental future and The Biosphere requires a social commitment of a moral, quasi-religious character.

Criteria in selecting a symbol for The World Campaign for The Biosphere are analyzed around fourteen questions posed to the World Council For The Biosphere (WCB) and the International Society For Environmental Education (ISEE). To be truly supranational the symbol must be free from words and focused on mind and The Biosphere—the key end-points in the circular causal chain of ‘education for ecologically sustainable development’. As the target audience is external to WCB-ISEE, the symbol should be open to use by other organizations, and perhaps have a designated place for their identification. To the extent that the symbol poses a moral question it should be spiritual, emotive, and applicable to instances of overexploitation and excessive waste. Technology should not be automatically excluded, nor should the focus be restricted to organizations (versus people) or specific age-groups.

The essential message to be communicated is wholeness through feedback. Suitable geometric forms include irregular lines ending where they begin, circles, spheres, and (in terms of computer imagery) pulsating objects. Existing symbols with appropriate traditions to build on include: the yin-yang symbol of the Tao; the Atlas symbol of person-planet; individual life-forms such as a tree; and the glory—the shadow of a human head surrounded by concentric, rainbow-coloured circles.

The International Society For Environmental Education was created in October 1983 to promote education for ecologically sustainable development in all nations of the world. The organization has ratified a constitution and by-laws, and the first full election of its Board of Directors, President, and Vice-President, will be held in February and March of 1985. The ISEE has already sponsored two international workshops, the first in New Delhi, India, and the second at Chateau Lake Louise, Canada. Three additional workshops are planned in Central America, Eastern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa. WCB-ISEE will publish a quarterly international Newsletter, the first issue of which was scheduled to be released in December 1984. The next meeting of the officers and Board of ISEE will be in March of 1985 in New Delhi, India.

Educators and environmental professionals are encouraged to join ISEE and become actively involved in developing its programme and participating in its governance. Those who wish to become involved should contact: Dr Craig B. Davis, Secretary-General of WCBISEE, School of Natural Resources, 2021 Coffey Road, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.

There currently exists an environmental spectrum ranging from ecology (i.e. a basic, theoretical research approach) to environmental science (i.e. an applied, problem-solving testing approach). It is suggested that applied ecology be recognized as an integrative paradigm which encompasses the principles, concepts, and procedures, of both ecology and environmental science in an attempt (a) to unite reductionist and holistic research approaches and educational philosophies, (b) to generate a new synthesis for addressing important ecological topics such as biotic diversity and ecosystem regulation, (c) to educate personnel across the total environmental spectrum, and (d) to develop transdisciplinary ‘centres of excellence’ which serve as vital industrial-academic-governmental focal-points for long-term, integrative research endeavours.

At present there is a dire need to develop unifying theory and coherent principles regarding the patterns, processes, and interactions, of both the natural and man-made environment. There also exists an urgent need to help solve problems related to world food production, energy resource management, genetic diversity, and environmental contamination, among many others. Further, the progress of emerging fields of study, such as landscape ecology and systems communications, will be likely to be impeded if such fields are not recognized as the synthetic interactions of numerous related disciplines. These fields of study hold great research potential for systematically addressing the above-mentioned problem-areas, but require the flexibility to merge new research approaches, technologies, and scientific theories, in an efficient, cost-effective manner. It is suggested that applied ecology serve as an integrative paradigm for these new and vital interdisciplinary fields of knowledge.

Ecological succession theory can be used in land-use planning to develop self-maintaining systems that meet conservation needs. This paper presents a management succession model and outlines methods that can be applied to regional land-use, rangeland, and agro-ecosystem, management. Traditionally, succession has been viewed as a repeatable and deterministic change in an ecosystem. Unlike the traditional view, the management succession model suggests that the successional process can be regulated to develop management designed communities. The model is based on current succession theory and consists of five steps; designed disturbance, selective colonization, inhibitory persistence, removal, and regeneration. Through the steps of the model, community interactions, life-history characteristics, and those abiotic factors that are to some extent controllable, are manipulated. The objective in manipulating these factors is to regulate successional sequences and rates of species replacement.

To implement these steps a management practice, such as burning, can be used as a designed disturbance. The timing, intensity, and extent, of burning are regulated to insure that ‘selected colonizers’ become established. The design of the disturbance, and the selection of species and proportions of colonizers, is based upon the type of community structure that is wanted. Often a stable, persisting community is the goal. How long a community persists can be controlled by planned removal, which deliberately interrupts a successional sequence. The removal process can, in itself, be considered a type of disturbance, and can be used to regulate subsequent successional sequences and rates of replacement. In some instances a regenerating community is the goal, and management efforts can be adjusted to prevent successional sequences from occurring.

Considerable public and political debate over the environmental consequences of large-scale operations associated with Tasmania's export forest industries prompted the present review and continuing field-studies. There are no known publications on the effect of forestry on inland waters of Tasmania, but relevant research in the Northern Hemisphere, the Australian mainland, and New Zealand, is summarized.

Forest operations considered are roading, logging, and burning. In general, roading increases water-yield, reduces water quality, and modifies the physical structure of streams—particularly at bridge-sites. The impact of logging depends on the harvesting method used (generally, tractor and skidder-logging in Tasmania), the proportion of trees felled, the proportion of the catchment logged, and the precautions taken. However, stream-flows, sediment loads, nutrient levels, dissolved inorganic materials, and wood debris, all increase with logging. If riparian vegetation is cut, water temperature usually increases in summer and decreases slightly in winter, but temperature tolerances of most aquatic animals in Tasmania remain unknown. The effects of burning Australian forests are poorly understood, but there are changes in water-yield and a decrease in water quality.

Trace-elements (Hg, Se, Cd, and Pb) and chlorinated hydrocarbons (HCB, α-HCH, γ-HCH, DDTs, and PCB) were analysed in eggs of seven species of birds (White Pelican, Common Cormorant, Pygmy Cormorant, Glossy Ibis, Grey Heron, Night Heron, and Mallard) collected in the Danube Delta. The species are at various levels of the food-chain.

Trace elements:—cadmium and lead occurred in very low concentrations (Cd<0.025 μg/g dw; Pb<0.250 μg/g dw) as is usually the case; mercury reached high levels in predatory birds (4.9 ppm in the Common Cormorant); selenium concentrations were quite high but homogeneous in the different species. No correlation between selenium and mercury concentrations was found, suggesting that the possible protective action of selenium enters into effect only when a certain threshold of mercury concentration has been reached.

Chlorinated hydrocarbons:—DDTs (particularly pp'DDE) occured at very high levels in the first three species; PCB levels are lower than those of DDTs; the PCB/DDE ratio is about 0.3–0.8 (such values are described as typical of agricultural zones and quite different from those found in the Mediterranean and in the East Atlantic); Lindane is present in amounts greater than those found in the two above-mentioned areas; α-HCH and HCB levels are similar to those of other areas. The possible pathway of these toxicants within the body and their impact on reproductive success is discussed, albeit somewhat conjecturally.