THE HUMAN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF POPULATION-DYNAMICS

In this paper, I begin with a brief sketch of the history of human eco logy. I then point out that its problems are more complex than those o f general ecology and review some basic features. A discussion of how the demography of households can be approached from an ecological pers pective follows, then I outline ways to improve the formal and methodo logical aspects of human ecology. To conclude the paper, I argue that demographers could gain by thinking in human-ecological terms.