Wild Thornberries CHUMACERA, KRISTINE B. Coden, Christelle Jae D. Gelera, Mariel Grace M. Jacinto, Justine April C.

Tanalgo, Baby Lyn Ann S.

HAD Date Performed: August 1, 2013 Date Submitted: August 15, 2013

Exercise No. 11 Population Age Distribution Abstract

Population pyramids graphically illustrate age distribution in a population. A population pyramid plots population (x-axis) against age (y-axis). It consists of two horizontal bar graphs placed back-to-back, with the graph on the left for males and the one on the right for females. Divided into prereproductive, reproductive and post-reproductive age classes, a population pyramid shows a countrys capability for population growth and can be used as an indicator of development. Based on their shape, the pyramids can be classified as expansive, constictive or stationary. Using demographics and graphs generated from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs site (http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm), the population pyramids of Haiti (less developed), Mexico (developing) and Norway (developed) for the year 2010 and 2015 were studied. Haiti has large percentages of younger age groups, an expansive population, for both years. Mexico has an expansive population for 2010 which aproaches a more or less equal distribution, a stationary population, in 2015. Norway has stationary populations for 2010 and 2015. Keywords: age distribution, population pyramid, expansive, constrictive, stationary

I. Introduction
Populations have an age structure, the number or proportion of individuals in different age classes. The relative proportions of each age group show the rate of population growth. Age classes can be divided into three stages: prereproductive, reproductive, and postreproductive (Smith and Smith, 2012). Birth and death rates, and immigration and emigration determine age distribution (proportion of individuals in each age group) of a population. Fecundity (rate at which females produce eggs), fertility (rate at which females produce zygotes), and sex ratio (proportion of male and female in the population) affect birth rate. Typically, expanding populations have a large percentage of young individuals while declining populations have a large percentage of old individuals, and stable populations have a relatively even distribution among age groups (Campbell, 2008). Age distribution of a population reflects: history of survival (high and low periods), periods of successful reproduction, and growth potential of a population (Utah State University, n.d.). Age pyramids represent the age structure of a population at some period in time, providing a picture of the relative sizes of different age groups in a population (Smith and Smith, 2012). Age distribution can be determined through different methods. Life tables allow for characterization of populations in terms of agespecific mortality or fecundity. There are two types of life tables: cohort and segment. Cohort approach consists of all individuals born during some particular time interval until no survivors remain. It is the most reliable method for determining age specific mortality. Segment (static) approach is a snap-shot of organisms alive during a certain segment of time. It examines the whole population at a particular point in time. Life Tables allow to discover patterns of birth and mortality, uncover common properties shared by populations, and understanding of population dynamics (Weber, 2010) There are generally three types of population pyramids. Expansive population pyramids show larger numbers or percentages of the population in the younger age groups. These types of pyramids are usually found in populations with very large fertility rates and lower than average life expectancies. The age-sex distribution of many developing countries would probably display expansive population pyramids. Constrictive population pyramids display lower numbers or percentages of younger people. The age-sex distribution of the United States fall into this type of pyramid. Stationary or nearstationary population pyramids display somewhat equal numbers or percentages for almost all age groups (Abedon, 2005). Determining population age distribution is important because it allows researchers to predict the trend of population growth in a given population. In this experiment, the students will determine the age structure of certain countries and construct age

pyramids. The students will provide possible explanations to the age distributions that will be obtained and predict the future trends for that population.

II. Materials and Methods

Population numbers were obtained from the UN population division website: http://www.un.org/esa/population/unpop.htm . Three countries were chosen each coming from developed, developing and less developed country. Norway, Mexico and Haiti were chosen respectively. A .CSV type of file was downloaded and was opened using an Excel. The data presented in the excel was filtered according to sex. Three columns were achieved the age groups, the female populations in those age groups, and the male population preceded with a minus (-) sign. These were copied into Powerpoint where a pyramid was created. Bar was the chart type chosen and the gap width was reduced to 0. The minus sign was removed on the x-axis. The tick mark labels on the Y-axis were moved to the lefthand side of the graph. The legend box and gridlines were removed. The border around the plot area was removed. The oldest age groups were removed and adjustments were made so all the age-group labels appear. A label was added to the x-axis and finally, the chart was recolored and labels of Men and Women using text box were added.

Figure 2. Generated population age structure of a less developed country, Haiti 2015

Figure 3. Generated population age structure of a developing country, Mexico 2010

III. Results
Figure 4. Generated population age structure of a developing country, Mexico 2015

Figure 1. Generated population age structure of a less developed country, Haiti 2010

Figure 5. Generated population age structure of a developed country, Norway 2010

The usual representation for population age distribution is an age pyramid. It is a figure where relative sizes of different age groups in the population are shown. The population of each age groups is shown as a bar extending from the certer vertical line, where the bars length is dependent on the population for the particular age class it is representing. The centerline (center vertical line) separates females (on the right side) from the males (on the left side) (McGrawhill, 2001).
Figure 6. Generated population age structure of a developed country, Norway 2015

IV. Discussion
Age structure, also called population age distribution is defined as the relative proportion of individuals belonging to various age classes across a population at a certain point in time. Members of the population are grouped into age classes since generations may overlap; age may refer to time units (e.g. days, months, years) or to a qualitative stage (e.g. eggs, larva, pupa) (Smith & Smith, 2012). In humans, there are three ecological ages namely dependency (pre-reproductive), reproductive, and post-reproductive (McGraw-Hill, 2001). The length of time an organism remains in each stage is dependent on the life history of an organism. Organisms with short lives usually increase rapidly between generations and those which have long lives increase slowly and have longer time spans between generations. If an organism has variable generation times, then the length of the pre-reproductive period has a significant effect on the growth rate of the population. If there is an effect on the growth rate of the population, then there would also be an effect on the age structure. For example, if a large proportion of the population belonged to the pre-reproductive state of the population, then it could be expected that the population is expanding or increasing. However, if a large proportion of the population belonged to the post-reproductive stage, then it could be expected that the population would be declining or have no growth (McGraw-Hill, 2011). There are several ways of obtaning the age distibution of a given population. First is the horizontal approach. This utilizes young members of the population and following their survival during their life spans. Second is the vertical approach were the ages in the population are examined simultaneously in one point in time. Third utilizes an indirect method which involves a life table (McGrawhill, 2001).

Figure 7. An example of an age pyramid Retrieved from <www.scalloway.org.uk>

Figure 8. Population pyramids for the different stages of demographic transition Retrieved from <http://dc191.4shared.com/doc/DbIi4vdB/preview.html>

There are three main types of age pyramids: expanding population pyramid, stable population pyramid, and the declining population pyramid(McGraw-Hill, 2011). Expanding population pyramids have represent populations with high birth rates, and the population is undergoing exponential growth. The concaves sides indicate the high birth rate and low death rate. This is usually pyramidal in shape. This is the usual population pyramid for less-developed countries as seen in the exercise (Haiti). The government in these countries may invest in incentives to use birth controls to decrease population growth rate(McGraw-Hill, 2011).. Stable population pyramids (bell-shaped) indicates that pre-reproductive and reproductive age groups are mostly equal and post-reproductive groups smallest (due to mortality). This type of pyramid is the usual population pyramid for stable,

developed countries as seen in the exercise (Norway). The governments in countries with stable population pyramids should maintain the current population because stable population pyramids indicate that not only is the population stable but the economy as well. The current population can support and is supported by the economy(McGraw-Hill, 2011). A declining population pyramid (urnshaped) represents a population where the postreproductive group is the largest and the prereproductive groups is the smallest. This shows that mortality is greater that birth rate which leads to declining populations(McGraw-Hill, 2011). The government in countries with declining population may use incentives to increase population (i.e. free health care for the second child). Other pyramid types may include the stationary and contracting type. The stationary type is found in countries with low natality and mortality. The contracting type is found in population where there are lower numbers of young people. These pyramid types are based on factors affecting age structure(McGraw-Hill, 2011). One of the factors influencing the age structure of a population is the sex ratio, or the proportion of males relative to the proportion of females (University of Wyoming, 2013). On the other hand, natality is the production of new individuals or offspring of an organism in a population. These individuals can be formed through birth, as in humans; hatching, as in chicken eggs; germination, as in plants; or cell division, as in lower organisms. There are two types of natality. The first, called the maximum or absolute natality, also known as the fecundity rate, refers to the maximum offspring produced under most suitable environmental conditions. Since environmental conditions constantly change and are never static, this value is theoretical. It is also constant for a given population. The second type, called the ecological natality, is also known as the fertility rate, and means the number of offspring produced under the existing environmental conditions. Meanwhile, mortality denotes the death of individuals in a population. Similarly, mortality rate has two types the minimum mortality rate or physiological longevity, or the theoretical minimum death rate under ideal conditions; and ecological mortality, the actual death rate. The vital index is the ratio of birth to death rate, expressed as percentage. The vital index determines the normal growth rate of a population (Kohli et al, n.d.). In addition to natality and mortality, immigration, and emigration also affect population size. Immigration and birth increase population size

while emigration and death decrease it. For instance, if birth and immigration is greater than emigration and death, the population size would increase. Age distribution shifts depending on the ages of the individuals migrating. For instance, if more old people immigrate and more young people emigrate, the distributions shifts toward the older ages (Kohli et al, n.d.). Carrying capacity, the capacity of an ecosystem to support a maximum number of individuals, is another factor. When population size increases, the growth rate is reduced as the carrying capacity is approached (Kohli et al, n.d.). Age structure can change without changing population size when the number of individuals leaving is equivalent to those entering. This may occur when immigration is equal to emigration, or when death rate is equal to birth rate. Here, the population will be stationary, described as zero growth. Moreover, mortality rate should always be lower than the population size (Bietsch, 2012). Other important concepts to note are sex ratios and dependency ratios. Sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in the population. Dependency ratio is the number of people who are not economically active for every 100 economically active people in a given population. The formula for dependency ratio is shown below (Columbia University, n.d.).

Figure 9. Formula for dependency ratio Retrieved from <coolgeography.co.uk>

In the exercise, it could be seen that Haiti has an increasing population because of the triangular form of the age pyramid. This shows that Haiti is indeed not yet a well-developed country in terms of economy. The government could implement family planning procedures and give incentives to those who have less children. Mexico, a developing country, is mosty triangular but eventually becomes columnar at the basal part. This shows that Mexico is approaching a stable pyramid type. Norway has a columnar shaped pyramid which implies that it is stable in terms of population and economy. The upper portion is triangular only because of the mortality in the post-reproductive population.

V. Conclusion and Recommendations

In conclusion, the investigators were able to determine and compare the age structure of countries

with varying state of economies. Factors such as natality and mortality were correlated with the obtained data. Age pyramids are clear visual representations of the population and show the trend in age distribution and can also predict the future population structure. These tools can also reflect the economy of the area of concern, such as if it is a developing or a developed country. It is recommended that more pyramids be constructed with respect to time to observe differences in the population patterns of a country and to correlate these differences with various factors and events that have occurred in the years observed.

hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073212040/63819/co 46.pdf> Smith T, Smith R. 2012. Elements of Ecology. 8th ed. Pearson Education Inc., Singapore. Weber. 2010. Population Ecology. Retrieved 12 August 2013from <http://faculty.weber. edu/jcavitt/WildlifeManagementMaterials/L ectures/Lecture%207.%20Population%20Ec ology.pdf>. University of Wyoming. (2013). Population Ecology. Retrieved 14 Aug 2013 from <http://www.uwyo.edu/dbmcd/popecol/febl ects/lect10.html>.

VI. Literature Cited

Abedon, S. 2005. Population Ecology. Ohio State University. Retrieved 12 August 2013from < http://www.mansfield.ohio-state.edu/~ sabedon/ campbl52.htm>. Population Ecology. Utah State University. Retrieved 12 August 2013from < http:// ocw.usu.edu/biology/general-ecology/ lecture8/lecture-8-population-ecology2.html>. Bietsch, K.E. (2012). A Guide to Stable Population. Retrieved 14 Aug 2013 from <http://www.princeton.edu/~kbietsch/pdfs/P OP502/stable_pop_guide.pdf>. Campbell N, Reece,J. 2008. Biology. 8th ed. Pearson Education Inc., Singapore. Columbia University. (n.d). Demography Learning Module. Retrieved 14 Aug 2013 <http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/pubhealth/ modules/demography/populationRatio.html > Kohli, R.K., Batish, D.R. and Singh, H.P. (n.d.). Ecology. Retrieved 14 Aug 2013 from <http://nsdl.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456 789/153/1/Population+and+community.pdf >. McGraw-Hill. (2001). Ecology of Populations. Retrieved 14 Aug 2013 from <highered.mcgraw-