  Let G be a finitely generated group. Two simplicial G-trees are said to be in
the same deformation space if they have the same elliptic subgroups (if H fixes
a point in one tree, it also does in the other). Examples include
Culler-Vogtmann's outer space, and spaces of JSJ decompositions. We discuss
what features are common to trees in a given deformation space, how to pass
from one tree to all other trees in its deformation space, and the topology of
deformation spaces. In particular, we prove that all deformation spaces are
contractible complexes.
