BSCI 473
MARINE ECOLOGY
Spring 2013
Professor:
Dr. Marjorie L. Reaka
Office: 4204 BioPsych Building
301-405-6944, mlreaka@umd.edu
Class time and place:
Tu, Th 12:30-1.45 p.m.
Class Room: 1124 Biol-Psychology Building
Office hours:
By appointment
(email or see me in class to arrange)
Objectives
The objectives of this course are:
1. To provide the student with an understanding of the major ecological and evolutionary
processes that shape past, present and future marine communities.
2. To provide the student with an understanding of the significance of marine
biodiversity and global environmental changes, especially those affecting the marine
environment.
3. To provide the student with an understanding of how policy issues relating to marine
biodiversity and conservation are shaped by physical and biological characteristics of the marine
environment.
4. The overall goal of the course is to enable students to be informed, educated citizens
that are capable of understanding, discussing, and/or voting on issues related to the marine
environment and its biodiversity. The course is intended to simulate interest and further the
foundational knowledge and expertise of students who are preparing for careers in academia or
in the environmental and policy sciences.
5. The course will have an active learning component, with participatory discussion by
both the professor and students.
6. The course will be integrated by a common set of principles across all topics covered,
i.e., we will identify a foundational set of environmental, ecological and evolutionary processes
that organize marine communities across all of the major marine habitats considered.
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Format
The primary focus of this course will be in-depth classroom presentations and discussions
of topics in marine ecology. Dr. Reaka will present a conceptual overview of each major topic.
Discussions will include emerging issues relating to evolution, ecology and biodiversity of
marine organisms, and will include discussions of original scientific papers. We will have an
evolutionary as well as an ecological perspective in this course. Students will be expected to
read assigned material before class in order to participate in discussions. Assigned reading
topics are given below and additional papers may be assigned if appropriate for particular topics.
Students are expected to participate in classroom discussions and lead/facilitate
discussions on outside reading material related to the major topics presented by Dr. Reaka. Dr.
Reaka will provide a pdf of a classical or otherwise important paper for each topic/subtopic; this
will be made available to everyone in the class. Each student will choose a particular topic with
its provided outside paper from a scientific journal, and lead discussion on that paper; everyone
is expected to have read that paper in order to participate in the discussion. In addition, the
student leader for that paper will research that topic and place the article in its scientific context.
This will entail (1) providing a brief summary of the paper to the class (a brief paragraph in the
written document), (2) evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of this paper (a few sentences or
short paragraph on each in the written document), (3) stating how that paper has contributed to
the advancement of the field (a brief paragraph in the written document), (4) assessing where this
particular subfield of Marine Ecology is going (i.e., what are the main outstanding questions that
need to be answered and how should they be approached? This will take some thought. A brief
paragraph in the written document is sufficient), and (5) providing the citations for 5 other
relatively recent scientific publications, with one sentence describing how each of these fits into
objective (3) and/or (4) above. All of this should be provided in a one-page document and
submitted to Dr. Reaka one week before your discussion is scheduled to take place so that Dr.
Reaka can put it up on the web for all students to review before class. Each student will be
evaluated on their written submission and on their ability to lead discussion on this topic. The 3
or 4 students who sign up for a given topical discussion are encouraged to cooperate, discuss and
synthesize in their research stage and during the discussion session in class, since they all will
have been reviewing a relatively similar topic. However, each written one-page summary should
be done, and will be graded, independently of the other students. Also, each student’s ability to
lead the class in discussion will be graded independently. Their goal should be not only to
present the “state of the topic” (1-5 above) and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the
paper, but also to lead and generate class discussion regarding this topic. Students from the
audience who regularly contribute insights to the discussion also will receive credit on their
attendance/discussion grade.
Exams
The mid-term exam will be given in class (one hour 15 minutes, Thursday, March 14,
2013), will be mostly objective (more information will be given in class), and will include
material covered up until that time. The final exam will be in a similar format as the mid-term
exam and will occur on Thursday, May 16 (it will be 2 hours [1:30-3:30], same class room as our
regularly scheduled class). It will be comprehensive but will emphasize the last half of the
course. The midterm and final exam questions will cover all lecture presentations, discussions
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both in Dr. Reaka’s lectures and in the student-led discussions, and all assigned reading material,
including the one page reports prepared by the students for their discussion sessions.
Textbook and Other Reading Material
The textbook, Marine Ecology: Processes, Systems, and Impacts (by Michael J. Kaiser,
Martin J. Attrill, Simon Jennings, David N. Thomas and David K. A. Barnes, 2nd edition. 2011.
Oxford University Press), will be supplemented with lecture presentations drawn from the text
and other original sources. Additional papers from the scientific literature will be assigned or
discussed where appropriate.
Grading
Attendance (taken at random intervals) and discussion in the audience
One-Page Summary of Assigned Original Scientific Journal article
Oral Presentation and Performance as Discussion Leader
Midterm (Thursday, March 14)
Final (Thursday, May 16)
15%
15%
15%
25%
30%
100%
Attendance: Only doctor’s medical excuse or University approved absence.
There will be no extra credit.
Assignment of grades will be based on:
A = 90%
B = 80%
C = 70%
D = 60%
F = 50%
Academic Integrity
The University has a Code of Academic Integrity, which is available on the web at
http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/JPO/. The Code prohibits students from
cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper for credit in two courses
without authorization, buying papers, submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures.
The University requires that students include the following signed statement on each
examination or assignment: "I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any
unauthorized assistance on this examination or assignment". Compliance with the code is
administered by an Honor Council. Allegations of academic dishonesty can be reported directly
to the Honor Council (314-9154) by any member of the campus community.
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SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND PRESENTATIONS
DATE
(2013)
Thurs
Jan 24
TOPIC
1
Introduction
The history of marine
life
Tues
Jan 29
2
The history of marine
life
Thurs
Jan 31
3
The history of marine
life
Tues
Feb 5
4
DISCUSSION OF
PAPERS
Thurs
Feb 7
5
Extinction and
diversification
Tues
Feb 12
6
Life history evolution
Thurs
Feb 14
7
Evolution of larvae
Tues
Feb 19
8
Thurs
Feb 21
9
Life history and larvae
in marine organisms
DISCUSSION OF
PAPERS
Larvae, life history
and sex change in
marine organisms.
DISCUSSION OF
PAPERS
Diversity on land and
sea
Tues
Feb 26
Thurs
NOTES
Last day for
schedule
adjustment
ASSIGNED
READING
PRESENTER
Chap 1.1,
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Chap 1.1,
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Original
research
papers & 1page
summaries
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Original
research
papers & 1page
summaries
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Dr. Reaka
Chap. 1.3,
Dr. Reaka
Dr. Reaka
Dr. Reaka
Student discussion leaders.
Papers by Erwin 1994,
Schulte et al. 2010, Jablonski
1991
Dr. Reaka
Dr. Reaka
Dr. Reaka
Student discussion leaders.
Papers by Raff 2007, Vaughn
& Allen 2010, Peterson 2005,
Robichaux et al. 1981
Original
Student discussion leaders.
research
Papers by Marshall & Bolton
papers & 1- 2007, Marshall & Morgan
page
2011, Warmer 1984, Chiba
summaries 2007
Chap. 1.3,
Dr. Reaka
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
10 Diversity on land and
4
Feb 28
Tues
Mar 5
Thurs
Mar 7
Tues
Mar 12
Thurs
Mar 14
Mar
19-21
Tues
Mar 26
Thurs
Mar 28
sea
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Chap. 1.2,
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Chap. 1.2,
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Chap. 6,
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
11 Major marine
environmental and
diversity gradients
and their causes
12 Major marine
environmental and
diversity gradients
and their causes
13 Intertidal shores (hard
bottom, soft bottom
communities)
14
Dr. Reaka
Dr. Reaka
Dr. Reaka
MIDTERM
SPRING BREAK
15 Rocky intertidal
communites; beaches
and intertidal soft
bottom communities.
DISCUSSION OF
PAPERS
16 Intertidal
communities:
Estuaries
Tues
Apr 2
17 Intertidal
communities: Salt
marshes.
DISCUSSION OF
PAPERS
Thur
Apr 4
18 Intertidal
communities:
Mangroves.
DISCUSSION OF
PAPERS
Tues
Apr 9
19 Subtidal shores (hard
and soft bottom) and
continental shelf
environments
Apr 10 is last
day to drop
with a “W”
5
Original
research
papers & 1page
summaries
Student discussion leaders.
Classic papers by Connell
1961, Paine 1966, Peterson
1991
Chap. 5,
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Chap. 5.3.4
+ Original
research
papers & 1page
summaries
Chap. 1.11.2 +
Original
research
papers & 1page
summaries
Chap. 8,
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Dr. Reaka
Student discussion leaders.
Papers by Bertness et al. and
others
Student discussion leaders.
Papers to be determined.
Dr. Reaka
Thurs
Apr 11
20 Subtidal communities:
Papers on subtidal soft
bottoms and sea grass
beds. DISCUSSION
OF PAPERS.
Tues
Apr 16
21 Subtidal communities:
Papers on rocky
subtidal environments
and the biology of
kelp forests.
DISCUSSION OF
PAPERS.
Thurs
Apr 18
22 Subtidal communities:
Coral reefs
Tues
Apr 23
23 Subtidal communities:
Coral reefs
Thurs
Apr 25
24 Subtidal communities:
Coral reefs.
DISCUSSION OF
PAPERS.
Tues
Apr 30
25 Life in the deep sea
Thurs
May 2
26 Deep sea
communities: Soft
bottom ecology &
diversity.
DISCUSSION OF
PAPERS.
27 Deep sea
communities: Hard
bottoms, vents and
cold seeps.
DISCUSSION OF
PAPERS.
28 The polar seas
Tues
May 7
Thurs
May 9
Chap. 10.3
+ Original
research
papers & 1page
summaries
Original
research
papers & 1page
summaries
Student discussion leaders.
Papers by Suchanek et al. and
others.
Chap. 11,
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Chap. 11,
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Original
research
papers & 1page
summaries
Chap. 9,
Dr.
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Original
research
papers & 1page
summaries
Dr. Reaka
Student discussion leaders.
Papers by Estes et al., Witman
and Sebens, Dayton, Steneck
et al. 2002.
Dr. Reaka
Student discussion leaders.
Papers to be determined.
Dr. Reaka
Student discussion leaders.
Papers by Sanders, Hessler,
Dayton & Hessler, Etter
Original
Student discussion leaders.
research
Papers by Grassle and others.
papers & 1page
summaries
Chap. 12,
Dr.
6
Dr. Reaka
Reaka’s
powerpoint
Thurs
May 16
FINAL
in this classroom
(1:30 – 3:30)
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