What is the death rate if there are 800 individuals alive at the beginning of the 1-year age interval and 200 individuals die during this interval?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → 0.25
Death rate is a per capita rate. It is the number of individuals that die during a period, divided by the number of individuals present at the start of that period.
- Death rate = number of deaths ÷ number of individuals at the start
- Number of deaths = 200; number at the start of the year = 800
- Death rate = 200 ÷ 800 = 0.25 individuals per individual per year
NCERT Extract:
Population Attributes – “… In a population these rates refer to per capita births and deaths. … If 4 individuals in a laboratory population of 40 fruitflies died during a specified time interval, say a week, the death rate in the population during that period is 4/40 = 0.1 individuals per fruitfly per week.”