GMI 315 - Marine Ecology

Course Objectives

1. To teach the ecological classification of marine environments.
2. To teach the fundamentals of ecology in a marine setting.
3. To provide insight on how ecological principles should be used in environmental protection.

Course Description

Marine environment in general. Currents, waves and coastal processes. Life in the pelagic and benthic zones. Estuaries, wetlands and intertidal zones. Ecological principles and notions; ecosystems, habitat, biodiversity, native species. Population and community dynamics; reproduction strategies, birth and death rates, age distributions. Population dynamics; dispersion, migration and invasion. Resources, profit and competition, food chains. Resources, profit and competition; predator-prey relationship. Plankton dynamics. Fisheries ecology. Larval ecology. Conservation; factors that affect marine biodiversity. Conservation; anthropogenic factors. Conservation; climate change, overexploitation of resources, sustainability.