University of Santo Tomas

College of Science
Department of Biological Sciences

EXERCISE 7: TAKING A TRIP DOWN “MEMORIAL” LANE:

ESTIMATING POPULATION INDICES IN A CEMETERY
(Prepared by Rey Donne S. Papa)

INTRODUCTION

Constructing life tables and survivorship curves can help us understand population growth. Life tables
provide information on mortality, life expectancy and reproductive rates. These data may help us
understand how to manage plant and animal populations. We can construct life tables and survivorship
curves using several cohorts which are observed over time. Since different species have varying schedules
of mortality and reproduction, these properties are dynamic, and are highly variable between populations.

In this exercise, you will learn the basics of population ecology using data gathered from a visit to a
cemetery of your choice. You will learn to calculate the age at death of people which would then allow you
to construct 1) a life table and survivorship curve and 2) Compute for life expectancy. You should be able
to compare these for different groups while varying some parameters. For instance, you may compare
between sexes, or people living at different times / belong to different generations, or you may even look
at variations in ethnicities or socio-economic backgrounds. You may be able to do this by comparing data
between cemeteries which cater to different demographics. This exercise takes into consideration that you
are dealing with closed populations (where movement into or out of the system does not occur), or where
rates of immigration and emigration are equal.

At the end of this exercise, it is hoped that 1) you will have a better understanding on how to calculate
survivorship curves from ages at death and life expectancies 2) explain differences in survival rates based
on several chosen parameters 3) explain assumptions in developing survivorship curves and 4) apply
survivorship curves in looking at the ecology of other species.

METHODS
Part A. Survivorship
1. Determine which questions you want to answer based on the dataset you will gather (e.g. comparing
males versus females, different generations, etc.) and select two groups you wish to compare. Make
sure that except for the factor you wish to compare, all other factors are similar between your
cohorts.
2. Visit a cemetery of your choice, randomly assign a plot where you will collect information from
 University of Santo Tomas
College of Science
Department of Biological Sciences

the tombstones.
3. Record births and deaths of at least 200 people from each of the two groups. Take note of the gender
based on their names (best to skip those with gender-neutral names for this exercise). You may use
a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for this.
4. Calculate the age of death for each person for the first group.
5. In another spreadsheet, group the ages into five-year intervals (0, 1-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-15 years,
etc.) and make two columns in a table. Column 1 will be the age groups and column 2 will have
the number of people dying in each age group (also known as age-specific mortality). Label Column
1 as x and Column 2 as dx. x=0 will represent total number of individuals in a sample.
6. Calculate the number of individuals surviving to the start of each age class and put this as column
3. This is done by subtracting the number of individuals who died between age 1 and 5 (the first
interval) from your total (200) and place this in column 3. Continue to subtract the number dying
in each age class from the number remaining alive and place this number in the next row of column
3. Label Column 3 as nx.
7. Calculate survivorship (lx) for each age class by dividing each number in column 3 by the total
number of people (200) and place these in column 4. Do this for both groups.
8. Compute for age-specific mortality rate (qx), which is the number of individuals that died during
any given age group (dx) divided by the number alive (nx) at the beginning of the interval. Fill up
Table 1 and 2 below with your data.
9. Prepare a graph showing the survivorship curves. You may use an arithmetic y-axis or a log y-axis
with age as the x-axis. Compare survivorship curves between these two groups. Print out a copy of
this graph and attach to your exercise sheet.
10. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation for a 5-minute oral report which explains the groups you are
comparing. Include your answers to the guide questions in page 5.
Part B. Life Expectancy
1. In Column 5, compute for the average number of individuals alive during the age interval x to x +
1. It is calculated as the average of nx and nx+1. Label this column Lx.
2. Use the values in Lx to calculate for Tx. Place these values in Column 6. You may do this by taking
the sum of values of Lx cumulatively from the bottom of the column to age x. Label this column
Tx.
3. In column 7, compute for life expectancy (ex) by dividing the value of Tx by dividing the value of
Tx by the corresponding value of nx.
 University of Santo Tomas
College of Science
Department of Biological Sciences

Names: ____________________ _______________________ Section: ___________

____________________ _______________________
____________________ _______________________
Date submitted: _____________________
Table 1. ___________________ (data set 1)

x dx nx qx Lx Tx ex

0 200
 University of Santo Tomas
College of Science
Department of Biological Sciences

Table 2. ___________________ (data set 2)

x dx nx qx Lx Tx ex

0 200
 University of Santo Tomas
College of Science
Department of Biological Sciences

Print and attach a copy of the graph you generated in MS Excel after this page

Guide Questions
1. Looking at the two datasets you have collected, what can you say about the populations you have
analyzed? What unique characteristics have you observed? Are there any observable trends among
the different age groups?

2. What type of survivorship curve is exhibited by your two datasets? Why?

3. If you compared data collected from two (or more) different cemeteries, what can you say about
the populations you observed from the different cemeteries?
 University of Santo Tomas
College of Science
Department of Biological Sciences

REFERENCES

Lanza, J. 2012. Demography from physical cemeteries, “virtual cemeteries” and census data. Teaching
Issues and Experiments in Ecology. Vol. 8. 22pp.
Smith, R.L. and T.M. Smith. 2015. Elements of Ecology, 9th Ed. Pearson Education Asia Pte. Inc.704 pp.