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Deposit feeders, animals that derive nutrition from organic matter in sedimentary deposits, are dominant among the inhabitants of muds and, therefore, of the benthos of much of the ocean. In this volume the critical research problems pertaining to deposit feeders are identified and promising approaches for dealing with those problems are proposed. Interdisciplinary approaches are of utmost importance in the study of deposit feeders and their sedimentary environment, merging fields as disparate as nutritional physiology and sediment geochemistry. Among the topics presented are advances in theories of foraging and digestion, and new experimental approaches to study the potential foods, feeding behavior and physiology of animals that ingest sediment

The objective of this unique text is to present a conceptual synthesis of plant, animal, and microbial ecology. Focusing on the application of ecological and evolutionary principles to the individual organism, the author discusses topics such as genetic variation, nutritional mode, size, growth and growth form, life cycle, and interaction with the environment. He concludes with a summary of similarities and differences in the life histories of micro- and macroorganisms. His central premise, illustrated by examples from diverse areas of ecology, is that in the broad range of aspects considered here, all organisms have been similarly shaped by evolution operating through differential reproductive success and thus promoting the development of analogous traits

1. Introduction -- One Conflict and Biology -- 2. Intergroup competition and conflict in animals and man -- 3. Selfish cooperation in social roles -- 4. The biological instability of social equilibria -- Two Sociobiology and Enmity -- 5. The cerebral bridge from family to foe -- 6. The evolutionary foundations of revolution -- 7. Loyalty and aggression in human groups -- 8. Territoriality and threat perceptions in urban humans -- Three 'Primitive' Warfare -- 9. Origin and evolution of 'primitive' warfare -- 10. The Inuit and the evolution of limited group conflict -- 11. Human nature and the function of war in social evolution -- 12. War and peace in primitive human societies -- 13. Primitive war and the Ethnological Inventory Project -- Four The Conflict about Sociobiology -- 14. The sociobiology of conflict and the conflict about sociobiology -- Author index.

Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) is a disease of the nervous system that occurs in man as well as domestic and wild animals, and is caused by parasites transmitted by the tsetse fly. The author first outlines the background ecological requirements and behavioral characteristics of tsetse, and examines the trypanosomiases that occur in Uganda with major reference to man and cattle. He then analyzes the extent to which precapitalist society provided controls on diseases and how this structure was effectively halted by the forces of colonialism. Finally, he assesses the viability of the major trypanosomiasis-control strategies. The author argues that the problem of trypanosomiasis turned out not to be an inherent problem of Uganda, but an outcome of colonialism and neocolonialism accompanied by high levels of capitalist dependency and significant changes in indigenous sociopolitical and economic relationships. (DÜI-Hff)

I bring several ecofeminist critiques of deep ecology to bear on mainstream animal rights theories, especially on the rights and utilitarian treatments of the animal research issue. Throughout, I show how animal rights issues are feminist issues and clarify the relationship between ecofeminism and animal rights.

This paper introduces a series of papers on the ecology, social organisation and behaviour of populations
of sympatric macropods (Macropodoidea : Marsupialia) in north-eastern New South Wales. The study
site, in the valley of Wallaby Creek, covers partly tree-cleared cattle-grazed pastures and also wet and
dry forest communities; 10 species of macropods live there. The valley has a moderately high rainfall
(1023 mm per annum), falling predominately in summer, and an equable climate of cool winters and
warm summers. Soils derived from sedimentary and basaltic rocks and alluvium support naturally
diverse plant associations further diversified by clearing and establishment of pasture and weed species.
Macropods favouring open country occupy the pastures, which can also be used by cover-dependent
species where pasture abuts forest or remnant patches of cover. Composition of the macropod community
has changed since development of the pasture zone. Dingoes, major predators of some of the macropods,
are abundant, and all exotic mammals other than cattle are rare. Populations of two of the macropod
species are habituated to approach by observers, and close observation, on foot, of undisturbed animals
has become our common study technique. A 1-ha grid has been established over 3.7 km2 of the study
site to facilitate exact location of animals and observations. The suitability of the macropod populations
for this kind of study results from the attitudes of the landholders.

Aspects of the ecology of Rattus lutreolus velutinus (Thomas) were studied in dry sclerophyll forest,
buttongrass and heathland communities in north-eastern Tasmania. In each habitat environmental
parameters which might influence the species' microhabitat selection (e.g, soil moisture, vegetation
structure and floristics) and diet (e.g. monocotyledon food), were assessed. R. I, velutinus began
to breed during late August. Sexually active males were captured between September and February,
inclusive. Pregnant females were captured between September and November, and the number of
lactating females peaked during November in all habitats. Juveniles were captured between December
and February. R. I. velutinus was predominantly herbivorous, preferring stem and leaf tissue but also
eating seeds, insects, roots and fungus. Captures of rats were positively correlated with vegetation cover
less than 50 cm high and with a monocotyledonous food index. Population density was substantially
higher in heathland than in buttongrass and dry sclerophyll forest. Animals had similar body condition
in each habitat.

"November 1989." ; Shipping list no.: 90-017-P. ; Mode of access: Internet.

Prey from stomachs of 55 whiskered terns collected on a freshwater floodplain in the monsoonal
Northern Territory were identified and counted. The terns ate a wide variety of invertebrate animals,
most of them aquatic or with aquatic affinities. The most important prey in terms of dry weight were
small fish, particularly Eleotridae, and insects, particularly Coleoptera, Odonata and Hemiptera.
Vertebrates constituted 51% by dry weight of the diet. Numerically, dominant groups were Coleoptera,
Odonata and small fish. Sexual differences were evident in morphology and diet. Males were heavier,
had longer bills and wider gapes, and consumed more fish; females ate more invertebrates.