The Diagnostic Question Cluster (DQC) project integrates education research and faculty development to articulate a model for the effective transformation of introductory biology and ecology teaching. Over three years, faculty members from a wide range of institutions used active teaching and DQCs, a type of concept inventory, as pre- and…

Graduate programs have placed an increasing emphasis on the importance of interdisciplinary education, but barriers to interdisciplinary training still remain. We present a new model for interdisciplinary, cross-institution graduate teaching that combines the best of local teaching, distance learning, and experiential learning to provide students…

Described are the values of a forest ecosystem in terms of its products and processes, and the dangers posed to such ecosystems by the pollution stresses of urbanizations and transportation. Included are options available to slow or stop forest destruction and degradation. (SL)

Discusses interdemic (interpopulation) selection, the Levins and Boorman-Levitt models, and the significance of group selection for ecology. (JR)

Describes the projects undertaken by each of four teams working in different areas of environmental research. (LS)

Reports the results of an international census of tropical ecologists. The report is an attempt to overcome communication problems among researchers. (BB)

Discusses environmental and biological aspects of arctic and alpine vegetations in the New World between the equator and the Arctic Ocean, considering their similarities, differences, and susceptibility to disturbance by man. (JR)

Presents a mechanical analog designed to reduce the conceptual difficulties experienced by many students in thinking about age distribution concepts in demography. (JR)

Describes a program of the American Institute of Biological Sciences that is concerned with the identification and preservation of research natural areas. (JR)

A level of organization schema is presented which uses the concept of the organism as the pivotal unit and emphasizes biological relationships. (BB)

Discusses the effects of radioactive wastes on marine communities, with particular reference to the fitness of populations and the need for field and laboratory studies to provide evidence of ecological change. (JR)

Cites the public image problem of field biologists and systematists. Discusses systematics and natural history including species variation, ecology, management of organisms and appreciation of nature. Describes widespread fallacies which downplay the importance of field biology and suggests ways to improve its image. (CW)

Examines aspects of competitive exclusion, which develops when two species jointly utilize a vital resource that is in short supply. When this occurs, one of the species will eventually eliminate the other from the habitat where their distributions overlap, unless one or both species evolve differences that reduce competition. (JR)

Reports on a portable video color camera that is fully suited for seeing ultraviolet images and offers some expanded viewing possibilities. Discusses the basic technique, specialized viewing, and the instructional value of this system of viewing reflectance patterns of flowers and insects that are invisible to the unaided eye. (CW)