ADVANCED MARINE ECOLOGY
SPRING 2015
INSTRUCTOR: KEN HECK
OBJECTIVES:
This graduate level course will improve your understanding of ecological processes by
building upon the foundations provided in introductory ecology classes. Emphasis will
be placed on the mechanisms that control the distribution of plants and animals at scales
ranging from the individual organism to the ecosystem. Assigned readings from the
scientific literature will cover the entire range of marine habitats and will reflect recent
thinking on the major concepts and problems in ecological theory.
CREDIT: 2 semester hours
PREREQUISITE: An introductory ecology or marine ecology course.
COURSE FORMAT:
Class will meet Tuesday, 2-4 P.M. Classes will consist of lectures, discussions of
scientific papers, and student presentations.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Your enthusiasm and interest are vital to the success of the course; thus, your attendance
and participation in lectures and discussions are essential. Readings will be assigned and
students will lead and participated in discussions each week. In addition, during the last
two meetings of the class each student will make a 20-minute presentation. The
presentation should be a critical evaluation of an aspect of current ecological research,
and students will also prepare an extended abstract and bibliography that will be
distributed to the entire class. The topic must be chosen in consultation with the
instructor.
GRADING POLICY:
Class Oral Presentation/extended
Abstract
25%
Class Paper Presentations/
Participation
75%
Grading Rubric:
PRESENTATIONS and EXTENDED ABSTRACT: Each student will provide a
presentation on a topic of current and growing ecological interest. Presentations
should be approximately 20 min in duration. For all presentations, you will be
evaluated on the quality of material presented, the manner of presentation, how
well the material is organized (with duration being a measure of organization), the
use & quality of visual aids, and the literature used in preparing the presentation.
The extended abstract will contain the main points made in the oral presentation
and include a literature cited section that contains the main sources used to
prepare the presentation.
PAPER DISCUSSIONS: Each student will lead and participate in regular class
discussions of assigned readings. Evaluations will be based on how the papers are
presented and evaluated by those leading discussions, and participation in
discussions of non-led papers will be evaluated in the following way:
Class Participation





F = rarely, if ever, contributed
D = occasional participation, but generally non-substantive, adding
little new information
C = occasional participation, but generally well thought out, useful
contributions
B = regular participation, sometimes useful, sometimes not
A = regular participation, usually useful
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ORAL SUMMARIES OF ASSIGNED READINGS:
Each summary of assigned papers should be short (approximately seven-ten minutes),
and should begin by introducing the questions the authors tried to address or the goals of
the paper (if it is a review paper or an opinion piece). Next a short explanation of the
study design and methods should be given, followed by a listing of major results. The
major findings and implications of the work should then be presented, as expressed by
the authors in the Discussion section of the paper. Your summary should conclude with
your opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of the paper. Thus, if you think the paper
was well done, you should tell us why. If the paper has problems (e.g., with the
experimental design, the types of data analyses used, or their interpretation), explain what
they were. At the end of the summary other members of the class will all join in with
comments and opinions on the papers.
Readings can be found in the 2015 Marine Eco folder at:
http://share.disl.org/heck/default.aspx
SYLLABUS
SCHEDULE
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION TOPIC
Week 1
Course Introduction; Study Design and Ecological Methods
Week 2
Study Design, Methods of Data Analysis and Statistical Usage
Week 3
Herbivory and Induced Defenses
Week 4
Predation, Trait Mediated Indirect Interactions (TMII)
Week 5
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning
Week 6
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (2)
Week 7
Ecological Stoichiometry
Week 8
Bottom-Up and Top-Down Ecosystem Control
Week 9
Bottom-Up and Top-Down Ecosystem Control (2)
Week 10
Recent Advances in Understanding Planktonic Systems
Week 11
Recent Advances in Understanding Planktonic Systems (2)
Week 12
Human Dominated Ecosystems – Exotic and Invasive Species
Week 13
Human Dominated Ecosystems-Marine Reserves
Week 14
Climate Change and Marine Ecosystems
Week 16
Student Presentations