Instructor: Dr. Samantha de Putron
The objective of the course is to provide a basic grounding in ecological principles using marine examples,
and to discuss the factors that influence the distribution, abundance, and diversity of marine
organisms. Tropical marine ecosystems will be the focus if this class, primarily coral reef, seagrass and
mangrove ecology. We start with an introduction into the ocean environment and marine life, covering
primary production and abiotic factors affecting life in the sea, and then explore the habitat ecology
of coral reefs. The class will then progress to looking at trophic levels and energy transfer, and then
we will explore seagrass and mangrove communities. The ecological processes of disturbance and
competition and life history strategies will then be explained using marine examples, and we will finish
with a consideration of human impacts to the marine environment and conservation management.
The integrated field trips and laboratory work are designed to provide experience in commonly used
marine ecological field sampling techniques and in scientific writing.
Readings:The text is Nybakken and Bertness, Marine Biology, an ecological approach. Copies are on
reserve in the Library. There will also be some readings assigned from the primary literature. Copies
will be made available as pdfs.
Grade to be based on:
Exams: 35%
Problem set (P/I) 5%
Quizzes (2) 5%
Laboratory reports: 25%
Group oral presentations: 20%
Participation 10%
Exams: One mid-term (15%), and a comprehensive final exam (20%) in the last week of the
course. The exam format will be that of short answer questions.
Problem set (P/I): A problem set will be handed out that requires you to turn in a Photosynthesis/ Irradiance
curve, which we construct in lab, and answer some questions about it based on the lectures.
Quizzes: Fish and coral common species identification is required for the field work and so two short
quizzes will be set. Fish ID is on common names and coral ID is on Latin names.
Laboratory Reports: During the course we will conduct two lab experiments to be individually
written up as lab reports: Coral feeding experiment (10%); The effect of reduced irradiance on
coral growth (15%)
Group Lab Presentations: During the course, we will complete 4 field experiments and collect
class data. The analysis from the field work will be orally presented in groups. The style of the
presentations will be that of a standard scientific meeting with 12 minutes for the presentation
and 3 minutes afterwards for questions. You must also prepare a 300 word abstract and a list of
references to be submitted on the day of the presentations. There should be at least 6 references
and 4 of these should be from peer-reviewed journal articles.
We meet for lectures in the Sunderman Room and our lab is the Scott Lab. Marine Ecology days are
Tuesdays and Thursdays. We will use Friday as a 'bad weather' back up day and also for groups to occasionally
complete lab work.
Tuesday Arrive all day - WELCOME reception at
17:00 hrs
Wednesday- Friday Introductory week
WEEK 1
TThe marine environment and primary
productivity
Tuesday
09:00 Course introduction
09:15 Lecture 1: Introduction to marine environment
10:30 Lecture 2: Primary Production
Noon Lunch
13:00 Snorkel from dock: Collect algae
14:00 Lab: Identify algae
PI curve demonstration and analysis
PI problem set
Thursday
09:00 Lecture 3: Coral Taxonomy and Biology
11:00 Lecture 4: Coral-zooxanthellae symbiosis
Noon Lunch
13:00 Precept: Irradiance Lab
Lab: Coral Buoyant Weight T:0
Surface area determination, zooxanthellae
counting, chl determination
Friday Designated group read chl values
WEEK 2
Coral and reef fish ecology
Tuesday
PI problem set due
09:00 Lecture 5: Coral reef ecology
10:30 Lecture 6: Coral reef decline: bleaching and
disease
Noon Lunch
13:00 Precept: Counting corals and coral ID
(Kate)
Lab: Patch and Rim video counting corals
Coral skeleton ID
Thursday
09:00 QUIZ: Reef Fish ID
09:30 Lecture 7: Reef Fish ecology
11:00 Precept: REEF database and methodology
Noon Lunch
13:00 Boat: Fish counts (1) at Patch or Rim reef site
Friday Designated group weigh buoyant weight
corals (T:1)
Everyone enter fish count data
WEEK 3
Trophic levels and energy transfer in the
marine environment
Tuesday
09:00 Lecture 8: Food webs and bioenergetics
10:30 Lecture 9: Herbivory
Noon Lunch
13:00 Boat: Fish counts (2) at Rim or Patch reef site
Thursday
09:00 Lecture 10: Predation
10:30 Precept: Feeding experiment
Noon Lunch
13:00 Lab: Feeding experiment
Enter fish count data
Coral skeleton ID
15:00 Discuss feeding lab data and lab report
Friday
Designated group weigh buoyant weight
corals (T:2)
WEEK 4
Seagrass and mangrove ecology
Tuesday
DRAFT feeding lab introduction and results
due
09:00 Lecture 11: Seagrass Ecology
10:30 Precept: Seagrass experiment
11:00 Collect seagrass - snorkel from dock
Noon Lunch
13:00 QUIZ: Coral Skeleton ID
13:30 LAB: prepare seagrass tethers
15:00 Boat Trip: Set up seagrass tethering
experiment
Thursday
09:00 Lecture 12: Mangrove ecology
10:30 Computer lab: Image J tutorial- compute
seagrass areas
Noon Lunch
13:00 Boat Trip: Collect seagrass tethering
experiment
15:00 LAB: seagrass analysis
Friday
Draft feeding lab returned
10:00 MID TERM(Sunderman Room) Lectures 1-10
Designated group weigh buoyant weight
corals (T:3)
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WEEK 5
Marine ecological processes
Tuesday
09:00 Lecture 13: Disturbance and succession
10:30 Lecture 14: Competition
Noon Lunch
13:00 Precept: Mangrove field work
14:00 Truck: Walsingham Pond for mangrove study
Thursday
09:00 all day LAB: Irradiance lab: final zoox, chl
and surface area
Enter mangrove data
Finish any remaining seagrass analysis
Finish counting corals- video transects
Work on lab report
Friday
Designated group read chl values
Feeding lab report DUE
WEEK 6
Life history strategies
Tuesday
09:00 Lecture 15: Population growth and life tables
10:30 Discuss Irradiance Lab data
Noon Lunch
13:00 Boat: Fish grazing experiment (1)
Thursday
Irradiance Lab DRAFT RESULTS due
09:00 Lecture 16: Reproduction
10:30 Lecture 17: Larval ecology and recruitment
Noon Lunch
13:00 Boat: Fish grazing experiment (2)
Friday (5pm)
Irradiance Lab DRAFT RESULTS returned
WEEK 7
Deep sea ecology/ human impacts/
conservation management
Tuesday
09:00 Video: Blue Planet: The Deep
10:30 Lecture 18: Deep Sea
Noon Lunch
13:00 Boat: Nonsuch Island
Thursday
Irradiance Lab report DUE
09:00 Lecture 19: Human impacts
10:30 Lecture 20: Conservation management
Noon Lunch
13:00 STUDY
WEEK 8
Final exam and oral presentations
Tuesday
10:00 FINAL EXAM (lectures 13-20 and
comprehensive)
Noon lunch
13:00 Group tutorials on oral presentation data
Thursday
All day: group tutorials on oral presentations
Friday
10:00 Oral Presentations
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