Appendix 3: Quantitative Analysis of Skeletal Growth Records Part C: Probabilistic Population Descriptions

In this appendix we propose some probabilistic and statistical techniques for describing biological populations. The techniques are illustrated with actual data, obtained from studies of coral reefs in Bermuda. In our example, we use skeletal band counts, made for a small sample of corals, to construct an age-frequency description of the coral reef population. The techniques are quite general and are applicable whenever a quantifiable skeletal growth record is exhibited by an individual organism and when one is interested in estimating the frequency distribution of the same growth pattern in the species population.

In this appendix we propose some probabilistic and statistical techniques for describing biological populations. The techniques are illustrated with actual data, obtained from studies of coral reefs in Bermuda. In our example, we use skeletal band counts, made for a small sample of corals, to construct an age-frequency description of the coral reef population. The techniques are quite general and are applicable whenever a quantifiable skeletal growth record is exhibited by an individual organism and when one is interested in estimating the frequency distribution of the same growth pattern in the species population.