Syllabus for Marine Ecology (Biology 433)
Topic
Mon Apr 1
Intro – Life in salty water
Wed Apr 3
Mon Apr 8
Habitats (including grain size, zonation,
salinity, depth)
Primary production
Wed Apr 10
Energy flow and nutrient cycling
Mon Apr 15
Secondary production
Wed Apr 17
GUEST LECTURE: Studies of marine
bird behavior (Dr. Tom Good, NOAA)
Life cycles
Mon Apr 22
Wed Apr 24
Mon Apr 29
Stable isotopes in food webs
Wed May1
Mon May 6
GUEST LECTURE: Experimental
studies of interactions (Dr. R.T. Paine)
Biodiversity
Wed May 8
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning
10-12 May
Mon May 13
Disturbance
Wed May 15
Ecosystem engineering
Mon May 20
Blue Carbon (Ocean acidification)
Wed May 22
Recruitment (MSY)
Mon Jun 3
Wed Jun 6
Wed June 12
Reading
146, 198
2-3, 165-166
Photosynthe 8-9, 33-39, 44-48,
sis
67. 79
74-76, 91-93, 113,
116-118, 123-124
Golden
Ch 4
Gardens
184, 161-163
Plankton
Interactions influencing species
coexistence
Sun Apr 28
24-26 May
Mon May 27
Wed May 29
Lab/ Other
Water
properties
24-26, 136-140,
182-183
Salt Creek
Rec Area
Data
analysis
40-41,160-161
181-184, 411-413
Indices,
species-area
10-11, 15-18, 406410
21-22, 167, 190192, 231-241
Willapa Bay
Alki Beach 188, 402-405
Holiday
Biological invasions
Field notebook QUIZ
Marine protected areas (direct and
indirect effects)
Threats and indicators for Puget Sound
www.psp.wa.gov/pm_dashboard.php
Final Term Paper DUE
p. 1
Sediment
(p. 150)
189, 248-249, 286288
296-298, OA-57-58,
422-426
23, 220-221, 362363, 366-368
Willapa Bay
No lab
Data
analysis
12-13, 294-295,
395-396
235-239, 444-446
Marine Ecology (Biology 433 Spring 2013)
Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Ruesink, 516 Kincaid, ruesink@u.washington.edu, 543-7095
This course will focus on local intertidal habitats as a stage for studying marine
ecological processes. Topics include recruitment, disturbance, physiological tolerances,
competition, predation, and how these processes influence the structure and diversity of
marine communities. Students will develop skills in algal and invertebrate identification,
data collection, data analysis, and scientific reading and writing. One weekend field trip
is required. 5 credits, ad-hoc W credit
Required materials:
 Field notebook (Rite-in-the-rain with pencil)
 M.J. Kaiser et al. 2005/2011. Marine Ecology 2nd edition
 Boots and raingear
Required projects:
Requirement
Term paper
Percentage of
grade
30%
Natural history paper
Field notebook quiz
Data analysis handouts
In-lab handouts
20%
10%
10%
10%
Due
Background (Intro): 22 Apr
Methods: 15 May
Draft: 29 May
Final: 12 June
8 May
29 May
29 Apr, 3 Jun
1 Apr, 8 Apr, 22 Apr, 6
May, 20 May
Weekly
GoPost about reading assignments
10%
Short presentation
10%
 Directions for term paper, natural history paper, and notebook follow on
subsequent pages. All papers should be submitted to dropbox.
 Class includes 2 weekend field trips, plus 2 field trips during Monday afternoon
labs. Performance in this portion of class is based on field notebooks.
 Class includes 3 indoor labs (photosynthesis, plankton, grain size analysis) and 2
computer labs (on-line ocean data sources, diversity indices). Performance is
based on successful completion of handouts.
 Class includes 2 computer labs for statistical analysis of data collected by the
class. Performance is based on successful completion of handouts.
 We are very serious about the importance of class participation, labs, and field
trips – there is no other way to learn natural history and how to do research in
marine ecology. Missed field trips and labs cost 0.5 GPA.
 Students are responsible for avoiding plagiarism in all written work.
p. 2
Term paper
Students will select a topic in small groups from among the following, related to this
year’s class theme. Students will work together to design and implement the study but
will carry out the background research and write-up separately.
- Abundance of clams recruiting into habitats with different structural complexity
(e.g. above-ground structure from vegetation or reefs; grain size of sediment)
- Abundance and diversity of amphipods in habitats with different structural
complexity (e.g. above-ground structure from vegetation or reefs, edge vs center
[see text 331]; with and without deterrent)
- Abundance and diversity of primary and secondary space occupants on boulders
of different sizes experiencing different frequencies of disturbance by overturning (text p. 462)
- Bird abundance and diversity on intertidal flats differing in habitat structure
- Life history response of eelgrass following disturbance (see text 329-331)
- Organism performance or diversity along a stress gradient (text p. 463)
By Friday Apr 22, provide the following: 1) major hypothesis, 2) annotated bibliography
of 10 relevant papers found in an initial search in Web of Science. Explicit how-to
instructions can be provided for those unfamiliar with electronic searches of primary
literature.
Organization for the data paper is as follows:
Title
Abstract (200-300 words)
Introduction: 1st paragraph begins with major ecological concept of interest. Justify,
usually by explaining and citing other work. Final paragraph ends with specific questions
or hypotheses to be addressed in the remainder of the paper.
Methods: state in way that your project could be carried out by someone reading the
methods. Sub-headings often include: Study site; Study species; Study design; Data
analysis
Results: Include 1 table or figure for each major point you wish to make about the results
Discussion: briefly summarize results, talk about problems with the project, and relate
results to similar studies in the literature
References (at least 10): format according to the journal Ecology
The paper should be about 10 pages at 1.5 spacing. The draft is due 29 May at midnight,
and responding to comments will improve the score and provide ad-hoc writing credit.
Final paper is due 12 June.
p. 3
Natural history paper
This paper should be about 5 pages. All writing and thought should be original (that is, no
need to cite references). Imagine you are Lewis and Clark seeing a spot for the first time.
How would you describe it so that people back east get a sense of the organisms, habitat,
interactions, and other important processes? You may write this paper in any of a variety
of styles, including a background for a research project, travelogue, journal, written from
the perspective of some organism that lives on the beach, a guide for visitors to the beach,
etc. However, every paper needs to include the following information (the paper will be
clear but boring if you use these as section titles – your choice):
1. Location – what place you selected to visit and to explore its natural history
2. Date/Time – when you visited the beach, and how things changed during your
visit (specifically with respect to the elevation of the tide, but also including
weather events if notable)
3. Habitat – You will need to take measurements of characteristics such as the
distance between high and low tides, size of cobble, rocks, or boulders, percent
cover of mud or sand in several quadrats, etc. You should place your site in a
general habitat category (according to the categories of Dethier), or note if habitat
is patchy at your site. You should also note any human-constructed habitats.
4. Oceanography – develop hypotheses about the extent to which your site is
influenced by currents, freshwater inputs, and waves. Habitat has some clues, as
does thinking larger scale – where do prevailing storms come from, and is there a
lot of fetch for waves to develop? Which way does the beach face, and how does
this affect temperature and desiccation?
5. Zones – You should divide your site into 4 zones, namely subtidal (below 0), low
intertidal (from mean lower low water to mean tidal level), high intertidal (to
mean higher high water), and supratidal (where only extreme high tides can
reach). Obviously you will have to use some creativity to discover these zones,
including consulting a tide schedule and looking for distinct assemblages of
organisms. Describe the habitat of each zone, including how much space is bare
vs. occupied, and describe the 2-5 most conspicuous species present – identify
them to species if possible, but at least to phylum. Use replicate, random quadrats
in each zone to collect quantitative data about which, and how many, species are
present. If possible, figure out if these taxa are native or introduced! (Ask around,
and use a key.)
6. Processes – This is the most creative and important part. You don’t need to cover
every single ecological process that is going on, but select 2-3 and cover them in
detail. For inspiration, you can look for processes in action: predation (something
eating something else, or evidence of mortality), competition (something
overgrowing something else, or two things that probably use similar resources),
facilitation (for instance, organisms that live associated with others), recruitment
(size structure in a population tells you something about this), production (which
organisms contain most of the biomass? Which organisms probably grow
fastest?), nutrient cycling (look for detritivores). [reproduction, camouflage…]
Processes can also include human impacts, such as collection, trampling,
pollution, or alteration of habitat.
p. 4
Field notebook
For scientists, a good notebook includes ideas, observations, and data. It should spark
memories and be a source of inspiration years later, as well as making it possible to
reconstruct experimental methods and results. If you genuinely want to keep your
notebook at the end of this course, then you’ve achieved a good portion of what we want
you to do. Specifically, however, each time we are in the field you should include the
following information. We will grade you in part on how well you cover each of these
headings:
1. Date
2. Location
3. Today’s weather: precipitation, temperature, wind
4. Habitat type: Rock (what type?) or soft (what grain size? Sand or mud?). Patchy
or continuous. Slope and aspect (facing direction). Wave exposure (including
aspect and fetch). Biogenic habitats (constructed by marine organisms).
5. Human impacts: human-constructed habitats, number of people present, activities
going on
6. Major organisms present at each tidal elevation: Zone 1 (supralittoral fringe above
normal high tide), Zone 2 (upper midlittoral zone), Zone 3 (lower midlittoral
zone), Zone 4 (infralittoral zone below normal low tide), Tidepools if present
7. DRAW the form of the shoreline as a whole
8. DRAW examples of 3 major organisms at 2 tidal elevations. Use a separate page
for each elevation.
9. Each field trip will have some component of quantitative data collection. Your
notebook needs to include information about methods that would allow you to
duplicate your study based on those instructions. You should: note the hypothesis
being tested, briefly explain the methods (including, for instance, quadrat size and
total number), set up a data table and record results. This strategy also applies to
data collected in lab.
Feel free to wax eloquent in your notebook, wonder, ponder.
p. 5