Final answer:
Humans display a Type I survivorship curve with low mortality in early life and higher mortality in older age, in contrast to birds with Type II and trees with Type III curves.
Step-by-step explanation:
Humans typically display a Type I survivorship curve. This type of curve is characterized by low mortality rates during the early and middle years of life, with death occurring predominantly among the older individuals. Survivorship curves are tools used by population ecologists to graph the number of individuals surviving at various age intervals over time. Humans tend to have fewer offspring but provide a high level of parental care, which increases the likelihood of survival during the younger years.
By contrast, a Type II curve, displayed by birds, shows relatively constant mortality rates throughout life, meaning death is equally probable at any age. A Type III curve, associated with trees and many marine invertebrates, indicates high mortality rates in the younger years, with a better chance of survival for those that make it to a mature age. This is partly because these organisms typically produce a large number of offspring but provide little to no parental care, leaving the young more vulnerable to environmental pressures.