ABSTRACT
A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area is termed a population. Each population has a number of characteristics that can be categorized as biological or group attributes. Biological attributes are characteristics the population shares with its component organisms. Life history or cycle is most often given as a biological attribute because a population grows, differentiates, and maintains itself just like individual organisms. Group attributes are common only to the population and include birth rate (natality), death rate (mortality), and age structure. These group attributes are unique to the population and only have meaning to a population of organisms (Odum 1983). These population or group attributes reflect the ecology of a species and can provide information on the spatial and temporal aspects of the environment (Cerrato 1980).
