Nature and function

摘要

One of the main scientific challenges of the new century is to assess the impact of people on the environment, including climate, and the effect that the changes we make will have on other living organisms. The key consideration is the ability of plants and animals to adapt to these man-made changes. As well as the current priority given in biology to the 'post-genomic' approach ― which aims to determine the functions of the genes identified in genomic studies ― it is necessary to study how whole organisms, species and communities react to environmental constraints. Ecophysiology, the science of how human, animal and plant populations behave in relation to these constraints, will have a significant part to play.