UC Davis graduate programs in ecology and evolutionary biology are the best in the nation, according to the latest rankings by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

Graduate programs that contain ecology and evolutionary biology are spread among several UC Davis groups, but are the principal domain of the Graduate Group in Ecology and the Population Biology Graduate Group.

Often ranked among the leading institutions in ecology and evolutionary biology, UC Davis beat out No. 2 UC Berkeley and No. 3 Harvard University for top honors in the magazine's most recent assessment.

In the general science categories, UC Davis was rated:

• 17th in biological sciences;
• 21st in earth sciences;
• 35th in physics; and
• 38th in mathematics.

This was the magazine's first update of science programs since 2002.

U.S. News & World Report's rankings for science specialty programs are based on the opinions of graduate school deans, department chairs, program directors and senior faculty in each specialty.

The rankings are included in the magazine's annual "America's Best Graduate Schools" edition, on sale at http://www.usnews.com and newsstands.