The correct option is A number of births in a population during a given period
The number of births in a population during a given period is known as natality (N). It has a positive effect on population density as it results in addition of individuals from a population.
Mortality (D) is defined as the number of deaths in a population during a given period.
Population density is the number of individuals of a population per unit area.
The difference between the birth rate (number of births per capita) and death rate (number of deaths per capita) gives us the value for r, i.e, the intrinsic rate of natural increase in a population.