The resulting data are often essential to the solution of problems in the pre- 

 vention and control of animal-borne diseases, in the conservation of natural 

 resources, and in the elimination of waste and the stimulation of production 

 in the several branches of agriculture, including general farming, horticulture, 

 range managonent, v?ildlife management, and forestry. "Not a single farm product 

 but is affected directly or indirectly by some animal activity,'* says Osborn 

 (1919: 112). 



Life-history data are essential also to a proper understanding of the 

 structure and classification of the mammal; they provide the student of ancient 

 life with materials for gaining a truer and more thorough knowledge of the past; 

 they are prerequisite to a determination of the factors controlling distribution; 

 and they are of very practical importance in problems of wildlife development 

 and improved land use. ' The advancanent of agriculture depends to a large extent 

 on a better and more scientific understanding of the relation of plants and 

 animals to their surroundings. Hasty judgment concerning the harmful or the 

 beneficial attributes of a mammal is often erroneous, and life-history studies 

 are necessary for sound guidance. Effective management of mammals depends on 

 adequate knoviledge of their habits and their relations to their surroundings. 



Ordinarily, mammalian life histories should be studied in relation to the 

 entire plant and animal community in its inorganic environment. As more than 

 one'vjriter has emphasized, there is but one great system of matter and energy, 

 and studies of restricted parts of the system are but for convenience. "Hie 

 truest, most adequate, and most satisfactory approach is through the entire 

 biotic community (Taylor 1920 and 1935b), 



OHE MA\1.1ALIAN CCMJUNITY 



- As an important part of the biotic community, mammals should be considered 

 from the point of view of community functions, as their origin, migration, in- 

 vasion, reinvasion, and establishment. Although little attention has been given 

 to the application to mammals of such concepts as ecological succession, reaction, 

 interrelations, and management, these concepts should certainly not be neglected 

 (Taylor 1920). It is unfortunate, in a way, that the mammalian community should 

 ever have to be segregated from plants and animals as a whole in their environ- 

 ment. For convenience of handling, however, such segregation or restriction is 

 sometimes necessary. The mammalogist should conscientiously and consistently 

 strive to embrace in his view not only the mammals but also all other living 

 creatures in the biotic community of which the mammals are parts together with 

 the environment. Only in this way can he avoid the errors, conflicts, and 

 wasteful practices that are the inevitable result of overspecialization and 

 narrowness of outlook. 



VnXDLIFE MANAGamn' 



One of the most practical applications of biological field studies in recent 

 years is in the relatively new sphere of wildlife management, now rapidly devel- 

 oping into a profession. The activities included under this heading often are 

 of the utmost importance to all who are concerned with land-use, including game, 



