Question

Which of the following is an attribute characteristic of a population?

• A. Birth rate
• B. Death rate
• C. Sex ratio
• D. All of the above

Hint:

Ask which of these values could ever be measured for a single, lone organism.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
A population is a group of individuals of one species living in a given area at a given time. A single organism can be born or die once, but a population shows group-level, statistical properties that no lone individual can show.

Step 2: Check each attribute.
Birth rate (natality) is the number of births per member of the population over a period, so it is a group property, not a trait of one animal. Death rate (mortality) is the same idea for deaths. Sex ratio, the proportion of males to females, also only makes sense when counted across many individuals.

Step 3: Put it together.
Since birth rate, death rate and sex ratio are all properties that exist only at the level of the whole population, none of them can be singled out as more correct than the others.

Final Answer:
Birth rate, death rate and sex ratio are all population attributes, so the answer is (D), all of the above.