Final answer:
A life table provides detailed data on the number of individuals alive in specific age classes, their mortality rate, and often includes fertility rates for each age class. It does not commonly exclude males or use a log scale.
Step-by-step explanation:
A life table is a demographic tool that provides essential information about the life expectancy of individuals within different age classes in a population. It details the number of individuals that are alive at each age class and the likelihood of them surviving to the next. The life table shows age-specific mortality rates, which is the number of individuals dying before reaching the next age interval. It may also include fertility rates, indicating the expected number of offspring produced by individuals within each age class. Although life tables were initially modeled after actuarial tables for humans, they are widely applicable in ecology and wildlife management studies.
Addressing the statement options provided, a life table does indeed provide data on the number of individuals alive in a particular age class (a), and it often includes fertility rates for each age class (d). However, it is not necessarily true that it often excludes males as the table may show data for both sexes. A life table does not usually use a log scale to represent survival over time (c); instead, it typically displays actual survival probabilities or counts.