Extremely diverse and complicated bacterial and protozoan populations inhabit the rumen and intestinal tract of animals, and there is a delicate balance among the individual populations within this complex microbial community.
1 Introduction to Gastrointestinal Microbial Ecology.- 2 Gut Environment and Evolution of Mutualistic Fermentative Digestion.- I: Nutritional Ecology.- 3 Foregut Fermentation.- 4 Fermentation in the Hindgut of Mammals.- 5 The Interaction of Avian Gut Microbes and Their Host: An Elusive Symbiosis.- 6 Fermentation and Gastrointestinal Microorganisms in Fishes.- 7 Fermentation in Reptiles and Amphibians.- 8 Microbial Fermentation in Insect Guts.- II: Biochemical Activities and Metabolic Transformations.- 9 Carbohydrate Fermentation, Energy Transduction and Gas Metabolism in the Human Large Intestine.- 10 Polysaccharide Degradation in the Rumen and Large Intestine.- 11 Digestion of Nitrogen in the Rumen: A Model for Metabolism of Nitrogen Compounds in Gastrointestinal Environments.- 12 Biosynthesis of Nitrogen-Containing Compounds.- 13 Biotransformation of Bile Acids, Cholesterol, and Steroid Hormones.- 14 Gastrointestinal Toxicology of Monogastrics.- 15 Gastrointestinal Detoxification and Digestive Disorders in Ruminant Animals.