A Brief Overview ofJAVADemography

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Why are human populations in Africa growing so rapidly, even though life expectancy is shorter than in most other parts of the world? Why do rapidly growing populations have such a large proportion of children? Why is the population of China still growing, even though the Chinese government is enforcing a ìone-child per coupleî population policy? What conservation policies are most likely to be effective at preventing extinctions of endangered species such as killer whales, spotted owls, or cheetahs?

These are a small sample of the kinds of questions that can be addressed by JAVA Demography, a computer program that simulates exponential population growth. By manipulating values for mortality rates, fertility rates, and initial population characteristics, and then using the simulation to see how population characteristics change through time, users of Demography can investigate important questions in population biology, develop a deeper understanding of fundamental population concepts, and explore issues related to population policy.

A key feature of Demography is the easy-to-use interface that allows you to rapidly and intuitively alter population characteristics and to instantaneously see the effects of your alterations. For example, changing the mortality rate of a particular age group, such as 20-25 year-olds, can be done by simply manipulating a point on a graph using the mouse. As soon as you release the mouse button, Demography will recalculate important population statistics, such as longevity (mean life expectancy) or doubling time. If the simulation is running, you will immediately see the effect of your changes on the growth of the population and on the shape of its age pyramid.

Demography is designed to make it easy for you to creatively explore and experiment. Just as importantly, it is designed to help you organize your explorations and keep track of your experiments. You may stop a simulation at any time and mark your place so that you can return to it later to make comparisons, to perform controlled experiments, or simply to refresh your memory.

We hope that you find Demography to be an interesting and productive way to learn about the dynamics of populations. In any case, we would like to hear from you (both students and faculty) about your experiences with the program. We are particularly interested in knowing the kinds of issues that you have explored, how Demography helped, and what kinds of limitations or problems you encountered. Please contact the Biology Software Lab, or provide feedback using our feedback report forms.

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Copyright © 1999 University of Oregon
All rights reserved.

The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. The software and/or manuals may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of this agreement.

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