IGBP research in the Federal Republic of Germany

In recent years the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) has taken on definite shape and represents a remarkable stimulus for the international scientific community. The goals of IGBP have been defined by the scientific community bearing in mind the deficits which exist in our knowledge of the System Earth with its physical, chemical and biological components. IGBP has limited the scope of this research programme to a time scale of less than a few centuries and excluded the study of processes evolving over long time scales such as the continental drift, geological developments and changes in the Earth's orbital parameters. Thus, IGBP focuses on basic research which both builds upon and attempts to integrate projects and activities already underway when IGBP was founded. This report summarizes German contributions to IGBP. Due to the complex, multi-level structure of science funding, the following report may fail to list every single contribution to the different research activities of IGBP or provide sufficient information to scientists of other countries with a view to prospective partnerships. In this case, the German IGBP Secretariat or the national coordinators listed at the end of the report will supply the required details. (orig./KW)