Holism and Kantian teleology in C.J. Van De Klaauw's structuralization of oecology

The Dutch biologist C J. van der Klaauw (1893–1972) structuralized the epistemology of oecology using concepts which exceeded the limits of a strictly teleological interpretation of nature. This article relates to his theory of holistic oecology which van der Klaauw formulated departing from a critical confrontation with Kant's teleological view on nature. He substituted this extra-scientifically heuristic maxim by the holistic notion of network-like associations between organisms within a community. The analogous similarities between the organization of individual organisms and communities drawn up by van der Klaauw, merely remained propaedeutics for a genuine holistic oecology, which would only employ epistemological principles specifically referring to the organization of supra-individual communities of organisms. This article discusses the process of structuralizing the theory of holistic oecology by van der Klaauw in his dialogue with Kantian philosophy.     

Trade-offs between reproductive and somatic (storage) investments in animals: a comparative test of the Van Noordwijk and De Jong model

Classical life-history theory predicts ‘trade-offs’ between reproductive and somatic investments. However, empirical studies have shown that intraspecific phenotypic correlations between these two resource investments are often positive or nonsignificant, rather than negative as predicted. The model of Van Noordwijk and De Jong (1986) was proposed to explain these unexpected results. According to their model, positive correlations between reproductive and somatic investments will result if individual variation in resource acquisition exceeds that of resource allocation, whereas negative correlations will result if individual variation in resource allocation exceeds that of resource acquisition. To test this model, I used body storage/condition as an index of somatic investment because it is usually strongly related to level of resource acquisition. I predicted that laboratory studies should more often show negative correlations between reproductive and somatic investments than field studies, because individual variation in resource acquisition is expected to be lower in controlled laboratory environments than in variable natural environments. A literature review revealed that correlations between somatic (storage) investment and reproductive investment (estimated as clutch/litter mass, number of offspring per clutch/litter, or number of clutches/litters) among conspecific breeding female animals are more often positive (15 species) or nonsignificant (17 species) than negative (6 species). Moreover, as expected, five of six negative correlations were observed in laboratory studies, whereas 13 of 15 positive correlations were observed in field studies. It is concluded that future empirical and theoretical work on life histories should consider individual variation in both resource acquisition and allocation and the interaction between the two. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Dos Casos De Esporotricosis Palpebral Procedentes De La Provincia De Otuzco (Norte Peruano)

Resumen Se describe dos casos de Esporotricosis, confirmados por el aislamiento del agente causal. Proceden los pacientes de la Provincia de Otuzco (Departamento de La Libertad). El tratamiento yodurado inició una evolución satifactoria en el primer caso y determinó una curación completa en el segundo. Se hace además una breve revisión de la bibliografía peruana pertinente.Trabajo presentado al I Congreso Nacional de Microbiología y Parasitología de Arequipa en 1964.