Now the highest-cited journal in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (ISI/SCI Journal Citation Reports 1996). Trends in Ecology & Evolution contains polished, concise and readable reviews, commentaries, discussions and letters in all areas of ecology and evolutionary science, thus serving as an invaluable source of information for researchers, lecturers, teachers, field workers and students. Trends in Ecology & Evolution keeps these scientists informed of new developments and ideas across the full range of ecology and evolutionary biology - from the pure to the applied, and from molecular to global. Now, more than ever before, is it necessary for life scientists to be aware of research from a wide range of disciplines, especially in the face of the gathering momentum of global environmental change and destruction. More than any other journal, Trends in Ecology & Evolution is the major forum for coverage of all the important issues concerning organisms and their environments.A sample of our recent and forthcoming topics: The new plant reproductive biology; Fungi and the evolution of the land flora; Persistence of a unicellular stage in multicellular life histories; Elevated CO2, secondary metabolism and ecosystem function; Extra-pair paternity in birds; Evolutionary consequences of indirect genetic effects; Population dynamics of large herbivores; Social evolution in toothed whales; Origins and early evolution of herbivory in tetrapods; The phylogenetic fuse and evolutionary explosions; Phylogenetic supertrees: genetic suspension feeders in marine food webs; evolution and ecology of the MHC.