Coverage of climate change in introductory biology textbooks, 1970–2019

textbook. The severe consequences of climate change on human society and ecological stability warrants a substantial increase in coverage. Third, we encourage publishers or developers of instructional materials to recruit ecologists, environmental researchers, or science communicators as authors for educational materials. While there are many important scientific topics to address in introductory biology, developers of instructional materials ought to ensure a balance between organismal, ecological, cellular and molecular biology. For example, the AP Board lists eight units addressed in its AP Biology course framework (used as a substitute for introductory college biology). The first six of the eight units deal with subcellular concepts. The final unit is ecology. This conveys a message that ecology is an afterthought with substantially less information to learn. Quantitatively analyzing the topics of instructional materials could result in more balanced instructional materials. Lastly, we recognize that many of these issues are woven into the culture of the biological sci- ence community. We hope this paper adds to the growing evidence that ecological problems cre- ated by humanity are, at least partially, the result of this culture. We recommend college biology faculty, administrators, and granting agencies reflect on departmental courses, faculty research areas, and awards. Natural history and organismal biology have declined as areas of faculty exper- tise and required course offerings despite serving as excellent recruitment courses for students.

While much of this shift occurred due to exciting discoveries in cellular and subcellular biology, the recent developments and severe consequences of environmental issues warrant increased awareness and appreciation of organisms and ecosystems throughout our education system. Supporting information S1 Appendix. (DOCX) Acknowledgments This project was aided by the Provost’s Professional Experience Program at North Carolina State University. Special thanks to Shaun Bennet and the Data Projects Unit from North Caro- lina State University, Kendall Ross from California State University, and Brice Sullivan from the University of California in Los Angeles. Author Contributions Conceptualization: Jennifer M. Landin. Data curation: Rabiya Arif Ansari, Jennifer M. Landin. Formal analysis: Rabiya Arif Ansari, Jennifer M. Landin. Investigation: Rabiya Arif Ansari, Jennifer M. Landin. Methodology: Rabiya Arif Ansari, Jennifer M. Landin. Project administration: Jennifer M. Landin. Resources: Rabiya Arif Ansari, Jennifer M. Landin. Supervision: Jennifer M. Landin. Visualization: Jennifer M. Landin. Writing – original draft: Rabiya Arif Ansari, Jennifer M. Landin. Writing – review & editing: Jennifer M. Landin. PLOS ONE Climate change in biology textbooks, 1970–2019 PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278532 December 21, 2022 14 / 16