Diverse chemical and biological processes in the oceans and atmosphere, the planet's most global domains, determine the fate and effects of marine contaminants and outbreaks of marine nuisance species. Understanding these problems requires the identification of environmental variables that influence ecological and human effects, the ability to predict spatial and temporal occurrences, and development of integrative interdisciplinary and mechanistic models for predicting their occurrences and severity. These endeavours require collaborative efforts of physical, chemical, biological and biomedical scientists working in interdisciplinary teams. There are numerous examples of interdisciplinary research conducted in marine systems on marine contaminants, including those contaminants released from the Earth's crust by human activities, those that are almost exclusively man-made in origin, and those that are biological contaminants often exacerbated by human activities. While interdisciplinary teams of researchers have greatly advanced the study of marine systems in some of these areas, there are still many barriers to interdisciplinary approaches in marine science, including disciplinary biases and institutional structures. A number of mechanisms are recommended that could support and enhance the ability of researchers to conduct interdisciplinary research in marine science, including the establishment of core facilities that can be used to support different teams of collaborating scientists, establishment of appropriate organizational structures, and promotion of seminars and symposia that emphasize interdisciplinary approaches.

The level of recognition of human impacts on climate, contained in the third assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2001), surely represents a turning point in human history. Some impacts can now be factored into predictions of future states of the world's ecosystems, and, though some powerful countries may for the moment indicate otherwise, it is certainly more difficult now to ignore the concept of global human impacts on the environment and doubt their seriousness. But there are potential pit-falls in this progression; it worries me that attention to incremental albeit significant rises in sea level, for example, may divert serious concern away from the consequences of the ongoing intensive and extensive growth of human population, the sizeable global impact of which on the environment and human society can scarcely either be debated. Environmental science is challenging; it aspires to holism, but the resources and scientific tools are such that it can only very rarely be holistic at anything other than very small scale. And different disciplines can be disappointingly inarticulate in truly interdisciplinary work. Environmental science tilts at comprehensive global understanding, but the problems of extrapolating to that scale are for the most part insuperable. The scientists, typically reticent about erring beyond the disciplinary or geographical boundaries of their work, yet those most trained to deliver objective information, risk becoming an undervalued resource. The danger is that awkward strategic decisions will be made with much less certainty or at least consensus than they should.

Tropical moist forests are declining rapidly world-wide. Reforestation efforts in Trinidad have generally been insufficient and focused on non-native species. Some of these species (e.g. Pinus caribaea), however, appear ecologically inappropriate but have been used extensively on sandy soils after fires or where harvesting has degraded the original vegetation. Little research attention has been given to natural regeneration as a potential for future timber production. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not post-fire regeneration provided sufficient species of commercial importance that could influence forest management planning. The field research was conducted at the Melajo Nature Reserve in north-east Trinidad, where there has been a particular focus on non-native species plantation in adjacent areas. A fire in 1987 devastated much of the remaining mature mora (Mora excelsa Benth.) forest at the Melajo Nature Reserve. The successional species were identified and recorded four years after the fire, and the abundances of commercially-important regenerating species were determined. The total number of species recorded was 201, representing 60 families with 153 genera. There were 14 species of timber value, with Mora excelsa, Terminalia amazonia, Byrsonima spicata and Sterculia caribaea being the most abundant. The abundance of commercially-important timber species in the most fire-damaged plot was 93% less than that for the least fire-damaged plot. The density of these species at the post-fire site in Melajo was on average higher than that of the same species in the mature mora forest. In 1991, the post-fire site at Melajo contained about 54% of the species recorded for a mature mora forest at Matura, north of Melajo (over 50 years ago).

The energy needs of the human population inevitably affect natural environments, but the effects on wildlife of human modifications of habitat specifically for geothermal projects are scarcely known. Through acoustic monitoring, we quantified at Proyecto Geotérmico Las Pailas II, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, the impact of forest openings on the diversity and community composition of aerial insectivorous bats. Our data revealed that artificial clearing causes a border effect, an environment where the diversity of species and activity levels of insectivorous bats increase with respect to other habitats analysed. We discuss that, due to the combination of environmental properties and resource availability variables of the border habitats, in addition to the acoustic abilities of the bat species detected, borders represent transitional spaces where species adapted to uncluttered and background-cluttered spaces can easily commute and forage. The artificial clearings created by the geothermal project had a positive effect on aerial insectivorous bat species; however, this pattern cannot be assumed for other organisms within the area. Therefore, we highlight the importance of quantifying the influence of energy-extracting projects on biodiversity metrics and the use of this information to make informed decisions regarding managing and conserving natural resources.

In 1998, we (von Hippel & von Hippel 1998) suggested that the advent of Viagra might take some of the market pressure off a variety of threatened species used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED) in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In 2002, we (von Hippel & von Hippel 2002) followed up this initial suggestion by providing a more complete analysis of the species that might benefit if TCM consumers switched to Viagra, and we also provided preliminary evidence that the harvest of a few species used in TCM may have already declined due to the availability of Viagra.

By these several citations from the topics before this Second International Congress of Ecology, I have tried to suggest the need and the feasibility for this discipline to play a more active role in the continuing development and improvement of the quality of human life on this planet.

The international system which is now preparing for the Development Decade of the 1980s, and the developing countries which seek their own paths—as many as are needed to match their varying environmental, social, economic, and cultural, endowments—are open to advice as to what to do in the general scientific, and most particularly in the ecological, context in which all continuing life must operate.