SECT. 4] COMMUNITIES OF ORGANISMS 435 



modified or directed by the higher. The formal separation which we make 

 between an individual of a species, the population of the species and a com- 

 munity containing this and other species, is useful as each of these levels has 

 characteristics of its own, but no level can be understood or analyzed completely 

 without reference to at least those nearest it in the hierarchy. Thus, for ex- 

 ample, studies of the behavior of individuals and of the birth and death rates 

 of single species populations are a necessary part of a complete community 

 analysis, and the community provides the context within which the results of 

 such studies can be understood in their relation to the existence of the species 

 in nature. 



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