In 1971 the International Society of Tropical Ecology and the International Association for Ecology held a meeting on Tropical Ecology, with an emphasis on organic production in New Delhi, India. At this meeting a Working Group on Tropical Ecology was organized, consisting of K. C. Misra (India), F. Malaisse (Zaire), E. Medina (Venezuela) and F. Golley (U.S.A.). The object of this Working Group was to stimulate interaction between tropical ecologists through future scientific meetings and other exchanges and communications. A second meeting of ISTE and INTECOL was held in Caracas, Venezuela in 1973, under the direction of Medina and Golley and sponsored by the Depart­ ment of Ecology, Institute Venezolano Investigaciones Cientificas (lVIC). The basic structure of the meeting was provided by series of invited papers which considered topics of special interest from both an applied and theoretical view. These included physiological ecology (Pannier), populations (Rabinovich), tropical savannas (Lamotte), rivers (Sioli), estuaries (Rodriguez), and island ecosystems (Mueller-Dombois). Contributed papers considered details of these and other ecological topics, including the application of ecology to human problems. The present volume includes the invited papers listed above and a sampling of contributed papers which together illustrate the trends of research in tropical ecology. The papers show that tropical ecology is a vigorous subject of research. While the papers in this volume do not provide reviews of all the topics of study in tropical ecology, they do present authoritative statements on progress in the major subject in the field.

Inhalt

1. Ecological Research in the Tropics.- Physiological Ecology.- 2. Physioecological Problems in the Tropics.- Dynamics of Populations.- 3. Demographic Strategies in Animal Populations: A Regression Analysis.- 4. A Matrix Model of Tree Population Dynamics.- 5. An Analysis of Late Secondary Succession in Species-Rich Tropical Forest.- 6. The Relation Between Rainfall and Mosquito Populations.- Interaction Between Species.- 7. Impact of Sloths on Neotropical Forest Energy Flow and Nutrient Cycling.- 8. Impact of Leaf-Cutting Ants on Vegetation Development at Barro Colorado Island.- Tropical Forest Analysis.- 9. Biomass and Structure in a Central Amazonian Rain Forest.- 10. Root Distribution and Biomass in Three Ivory Coast Rain Forest Plots.- 11. Litter Production in Deciduous Forest near Udaipur (South Rajasthan), India.- 12. Litter Fall and Litter Breakdown in Miombo.- 13. Nutrients in Throughfall and Their Quantitative Importance in Rain Forest Mineral Cycles.- 14. Production, Energy Pathways, and Community Diversity in Forest Birds.- Savannas.- 15. The Structure and Function of a Tropical Savannah Ecosystem.- 16. A Critical Consideration of the Environmental Conditions Associated with the Occurrence of Savanna Ecosystems in Tropical America.- 17. Effect of Fire on Organic Matter Production and Water Balance in a Tropical Savanna.- 18. Net Primary Production in Grasslands at Udaipur, India.- Tropical Water Bodies.- 19. Tropical Rivers as Expressions of Their Terrestrial Environments.- 20. Productivity, Biomass, and Population Dynamics in Amazonian Water Bodies.- 21. Some Aspects of the Ecology of Tropical Estuaries.- 22. Diurnal Rates of Photosynthesis, Respiration, and Transpiration in Mangrove Forests of South Florida.- Island Ecosystems.- 23. Some Aspects of Island Ecosystem Analysis.- Applications.- 24. Faunal Equilibria and the Design of Wildlife Preserves.- 25. A Comparison of Soils Under Agriculture and Forests in San Carlos, Costa Rica.