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This section is on growth of nonhuman individuals. Growth of an individual or a group of organisms is generally defined as the change in dimensions over time. Growth rates vary between and within plant and animal species. They are generally influenced by both genetic and phenotypic factors, and may be negative or positive. Positive growth relates to increases in dimensions (weight, height, and number of component parts) over time, whereas decay or negative growth refers to the decline over time. Human interference, either intentionally or accidentally, environmental influences, and management practices can substantially influence the growth forms and patterns of individuals and population. Age‐growth functions constitute important analytical tools in the management of natural resources. These models are explicit expressions of both theory and empirical knowledge, and are useful for growth and yield prediction and evaluation of alternative management strategies, among others. The approach to age‐growth modeling may be based on either primary (single) unit or stand (aggregate of units). Irrespective of modeling philosophy, the goal is identification of the most parsimonious and biologically reasonable model that best describes the relationship between the response variable (which is a measure of growth) and time (age).

Available and preferred incentives of staff members of five public and five private Senior High schools in Sunyani Municipality, Ghana, West Africa, were compared in this study during the 2021/2022 academic year. A random sample of 214 out of 645 workers from the 10 schools selected from 19 responded to 55 Likert-type questionnaires which had been pretested and with the Cronbach score of 0.73. Inferential statistical analysis identified several and specific incentives offered to the two groups (private and public), as well as those they prefer. Respondents from private institutions favoured incentives that emphasized on their development to enhance their ability to excel and to support their remunerations with mid-day meals. However, public sector workers prioritized facilities like school busing, small classroom sizes, and improved retirement benefits. The revelation from the study suggests the need for educational institutions to continuously track workers' performance against the incentives and rewards granted. Public workers are remunerated from the public trust and assured of timely payments and promotions, but not necessarily satisfied. Future studies will need to assess the level of satisfaction against the performance of their schools.

Growth of an individual or group of organisms is defined as the change in dimensions over time. Growth rates vary between and within plant and animal species. They are generally influenced by both genetic and phenotypic factors, and may be negative or positive. Positive growth relates to increases in dimensions (weight, height, and number of component parts) over time, while negative or decay growth refers to the decline over time. Human interference, either intentionally or accidentally, environmental influences and management practices can substantially influence the growth forms and patterns of individuals and population. Age/growth functions constitute important analytical tools in the management of natural resources. These models are explicit expressions of both theory and empirical knowledge, and are useful for growth and yield prediction, computation of sustainable crop yields, and evaluation of alternative management strategies, among others. The approach to age/growth modeling may be based on either primary (single) unit or stand (aggregate of units). Irrespective of modeling philosophy, the goal is identification of the most parsimonious and biologically‐reasonable model that best describes the relationship between the response variable (which is a measure of growth) and time (age). Biologically reasonable models involve parameters to which meaningful interpretation may be assigned.