Destruction of tropical rain forests has increased exponentially in recent years, as have efforts to conserve them. However, information essential to these conservation programs - an understanding of the population dynamics of the community at risk - has often been unavailable to the scientists and resource managers who need it most. This volume seeks to fill the gap by presenting a comprehensive description and analysis of the animal community of the tropical rain forest at El Verde, Puerto Rico. Building on more than a decade of field research, the contributors weave the complex strands of information about the energy flow within the forest - who eats whom - into a tool for understanding community dynamics known as a food web.