[Directions of ecology specialty construction and personnel training in China]

This paper analyzed the present status of ecology specialty construction and personnel training in China. It was considered that there existed some problems to be solved, e. g., the contradiction between the rapid development of new subjects in ecology and the relative weakness in personnel qualified to teach, the unbalance between the extensive and intensive, and the deep and shallow teaching programs for the students in ecology, the conflict between the "soft" (theoretical) ecological education and the "hard" (technical) ecological construction, and the contradiction between the limited demands and the relative surplus supply of undergraduate students in ecology. Based on these analyses, a series of suggestions and countermeasures for the innovation of the teaching styles and training directions in ecological specialties were put forward, including 1) to formulate a development and construction plan of ecology specialty and to appropriately regulate the enrollment of undergraduate students, 2) to achieve the changes in current teaching styles from classroom to field and from "soft" theoretical teaching to "hard" technical training, 3) to develop and implement a variety of diversified teaching methods, such as participative, interactive, research-based, and innovative teaching for undergraduate students, 4) to enhance the undergraduate educational quality and teaching resource bank construction and to achieve teaching resource sharing, and 5) to establish "T-type" personnel training system in ecology. Some employment-oriented personnel training directions in ecology specialty were also presented.