3527.14 - Aquatic Ecology and Marine Biology

3527.14

Aquatic Ecology and Marine Biology

7.5

Non

To give the students a solid introduction to life in the sea, and a base for understanding how environmental factors affect the biology in the sea.

Pelagic environment:Pelagic organisms, their ecology, life conditions and abiotic environment. Primary production and environmental effects. Structure, function and adaptations of herbivores and carnivores. Microbial ecology, sedimentation and cycling of organic and inorganic compounds. Life cycles of organisms. The seabed: Food chains and food webs. The benthic environment and organism adaptations. Physical and chemical properties of marine sediments. Benthic flora and fauna. Their structure, function and adaptation to the environment. Detritus and sedimentation. Interspecific relations in the benthic environment. Trophic relations. Food chains and food nets. Trophic levels and energy flow. Climateic and human effects. Limnology: Freshwater lakes. Streams.

Lectures, laboratory exercises, and problem solving

After completing this course, you should be able to: 1) Define the major life forms in the ocean, describe the characteristics that differentiate these life forms and how these forms interact with each other. 2) Explain how marine organisms influence the cycling of bioelements, particularly carbon. 3) Define the environmental factors and processes that control the abundance and distributions of marine organisms in space and time on a variety of scales. 4) Describe methodological approaches for evaluating the abundance, biomass, growth, and mortality of planktonic organisms.

Four-hour written examination. No auxiliary material allowed except NVD computers for writing and calculation. Marks are also given for written exercises and the average of these marks will count 20% of the final course grade. The existing grade scale will be used.

External

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Høgni Hammershaimb Debes