Population Studies and Historical Demography: Context of Microevolution in Micronesia

Underwood, Jane H. (1990). "Population Studies and Historical Demography: Context of Microevolution in Micronesia". Micronesica. Mangilao, GU: University of Guam (Suppl. 2): 417–430. ISSN 2374-801X.

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Abstract: Underwood develops a demographic framework for understanding microevolutionary processes in Micronesia, centering on Guam but speaking to the region more broadly; reconstructs population history through linked family registers, censuses, vital records, and ethnographic information in order to move beyond the fragmentary evidence usually available for Micronesian demography; shows that the reconstructed 1897 Guam population was young, growing, and marked by a persistent female surplus across most adult age groups; argues that population growth depended primarily on natural increase rather than migration; uses life-expectancy values, fertility measures, and cohort analysis to show high fertility, declining mortality, high male mortality in many age groups, uneven reproductive contribution, and a relatively small effective breeding population; notes the importance of village and town endogamy, founder effects, and restricted gene flow in shaping larger-island populations just as on smaller atolls; and concludes that historical demography is essential for understanding current biological variability and adaptive processes in Micronesian populations.