Biological evolution occurs in a community context, and likewise, evolution produces the differences (or similarities) among species that are crucial to their coexistence. Yet despite the best efforts of leading researchers, evolution and community ecology have developed largely as separate disciplines. Because of recent advances in molecular phylogenetics and in the analysis of community phylogenetic structure, the possibility of integrating our understanding of the evolutionary history of taxa in ecological communities with knowledge of the ecological structure of communities is becoming a reality. But the techniques and ideas involved are still not widely known among mainstream ecologists. As an initial attempt towards integrating ecological and evolutionary perspectives, a symposium entitled "Phylogenetic approaches to community ecology" will be convened at the Ecological Society of America's annual meeting in 2004. The value of this symposium will be greatly increased by the rapid publication of the talks in a special feature publication in the journal Ecology, that is widely available.
