Population dynamics and epidemiology of territorial animals

Between 1978 and 1984 meetings on various aspects of the spread of fox rabies were organised by a working group set up jointly by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology and the Royal Statistical Society (e.g. Bacon & Armitage 1979, Bacon & Macdonald 1981, Ball & Bacon 1984). These meetings were felt to be valuable, particularly in the way they brought theoreticians together with practical ecologists and epidemiologists, and it was therefore agreed that the working party should be continued as an informal 'Quantitative Epidemic Modelling Group'. The aim of the present meeting was to widen the scope of the working party's discussions by comparing the population dynamics of a number of other territorial animals, under the influence of a variety of diseases. The juxtaposition of papers by ecologists and epidemiologists, practical and theoretical workers, provoked many useful discussions, and will I hope have a similar stimulating effect on the reader. The meeting was organised by Philip Bacon and myself (mostly Philip), with support from the British Ecological Society and Biometric Society for which we are grateful. I should also like to thank all those who attended, whether as speakers or simply as participants in the discussions; John Jeffers, Director of ITE, the original proposer of the working group in 1977, and our host on this occasion; and Philip Bacon and supporting staff at ITE Merlewood for all their hard work which made possible a smoothly run and enjoyable meeting. Our thanks also go to Winnie Hughes for retyping the papers on my Department's word processor at Heriot-Watt. Denis Mollison.