Survivorship lab

Victoria Liu
Purpose
The objective of this experiment is to model bubble/dice population as living organisms in
order to determine the effect of different circumstances on their survivorship curves, such as
nurturing and sink or swim.

Data tables
Arithmetic graphs

100 Rate of survivorship in dice's generations

90

80

70
Survivorship rate (%)

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25

Generation
Population 1 Population 2

Rate of survivorship in bubble's generations

12

10

8
Survivorship rate (%)

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Population 1 Population 2
Population 3 (Reaching Maturity) Age range
Generation Population 1
Population 2 Population 3 (Reaching Maturity) Age range
Logarithmic graph

Rate of survivorship in dice's generations

100
Survivorship rate (%)

10

1
0 5 10 15 20 25
Generation

Population 1 Population 2

Rate of survivorship in bubble's generations

10
Survivorship (%)

1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Generation

Population 1 Population 2
Population 3 (Reaching Maturity) Age range
 1. Compare the curves of tour graphs for bubble survivorship to that of Type I, II,
and III. Which Bubble graph match which survivorship curve?
- Population 1 matches type I survivorship curve. The survivorship rate is very high in
the infant and juvenile years that carries till 16th generation. After 16th generation, the
survivorship drastically decreased, as the organisms begin to enter older age.
- Population 2 matches type II survivorship. It has a constant and gradual decline
throughout the generations- with a slightly higher survivorship at the beginning. It
resembles a linear relationship overall; it reflects that organisms have the same chance
of mortality, despite their generation.
- Population 3 matches type III survivorship. The survivorship is very low from early
life stages. It is predicted to continue decreasing until reaching a relatively constant
mortality rate. The drastic decrease in survivorship is demonstrated through the fact
that all organisms died after only 5 generations. This reflects that organisms in type 3
curve have a low chance of surviving and reaching maturity.

The cause for the unsmooth curve is due to the large variations of the rate of
survivorship in each population. For example for population 2, it was unable to
remain constant throughout. However, the type of survivorship can be predicted by
each graph’s trends.

2. Do any of the soap bubble populations show a constant death rate for at least
part of their lifespan? Is so, which?
Yes. Population 2 showed a relatively constant death rate from 0-16th generation.

3. How did the treatments that the different bubble populations were subjected to
affect the shape of the curves?
The first population’s survivorship is the longest, which belongs to the type 1 survivorship
curve. This is caused by the nurturing treatment. The parental care of fanning the bubbles up
resulted in a higher survivorship rate at younger age. The bubbles eventually die out as they
approach old age. The nurturing is successful, as it gave the bubbles higher survivorship at
early age and longer life span.

The treatment of sink or swim to the 2nd population left the bubbles to survive on their own
without any parental support. This affected all bubbles to die at a similar rate, as there are no
efforts put in to prevent their death. Therefore, the survivorship curve remained relatively
constant throughout.

For the third generation, the treatment of blowing bubble horizontally through the net
at a short distance of 60 cm led most of the populations to die at early life stage. It is
difficult to reach maturity/survive longer, as the bubbles didn’t have the opportunity to
flow up towards the celling. This led to a drastic decline in survivorship from early age
and a shorter life span.

4. Which type of survivorship curve describes a population of organisms that

produces a very large number of offspring, most of which die at a very early age,
only a few surviving to old age? Give an example of a population of this type.
It is describing Type III. Examples of this type of population are insects, barnacles and
oysters.
 5. Would you expect a population in which most members survive for a long time
to produce few or many offspring? Which would be most advantageous to the
population as a whole? Give an example of such a species.
A population that survive for a long time produce few offspring. Fewer offspring is most
advantageous to the population as a whole, because the species put their energy into
nurturing their young to reproductive age. This avoids high mortality rate at a young age,
provides enough resources for the population and transfer the survivorship skills of the
previous generation to the next. An example of such species are elephants; they have a
close matriarchal society and a long period of parental care. The nurturing makes
elephants long lived.

6. Suppose a human population exhibits a Type III survival curve.

a. What would you expect to happen to the curve over time if a dramatic
improvement in medical technology takes place?
An dramatic medical improvement will evolve the drastic decline of survivorship
at early age and short life span to higher survivorship rate and reproduction of
more generations. The sharp decline of the curve will be lifted upwards, as the
survivorship rate becomes higher. It will also make the graph becomes elongated
in the x-axis, where populations have longer life span. In the long term, the type
III graph will gradually evolve towards the shape of type I curve.

b. What would you expect to happen to the curve over time if medical
technologies suddenly fails?
If technology fails, the curve will be shorted on the x-axis, as life expectancy
becomes shorter. It will also cause a more drastic decline from early year’s
survivorship, which elongates the range of the y-axis. Overall, it will become
more difficult for organisms to reach maturity with higher rate of mortality.

7. What would you expect to happen to a population whose birth rate is about
equal to the death rate?
It can be seen as a population maintaining the level of its carrying capacity, which is stable.
In a long term, equal birth and death rate will lead to environmental sustainability. The stable
number of population allows enough resources for the organisms to survive, while avoiding
harmful competition.