N natality, the number of individuals born in a given time period, is also known as which rate?

• A. Death rate
• B. Birth rate
• C. Fecundity
• D. Life expectancy

Answer: (B)

N natality refers to how many individuals are born in a population over a specific time period. The best term for this is birth rate, since it captures the actual number of births occurring within a given time. Birth rate can be expressed as births per year (or per 1,000 individuals, etc.), reflecting the realized production of new individuals.

Fecundity, by contrast, is about potential reproductive capacity—how many offspring could be produced by an individual or a group under ideal conditions, not the actual number born. Life expectancy is about the average length of life, not the number of births. Death rate counts how many individuals die over a period, which is the opposite flow of natality but not the same concept.