MARINE ECOLOGY
Academic year and teacher
If you can't find the course description that you're looking for in the above list,
please see the following instructions >>
- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- MICHELE MISTRI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/07
Training objectives
- The course Marine Ecology aims at providing and improving the basic knowledge on the main topics of modern marine ecology, along with its evolution in the last century. Students are expected to achieve the skill to analyze marine ecosystem structure and process and to tackle the main ecological issues of sustainable environmental management, natural resources exploitation and nature conservation. The student will acquire skills on the structure and functioning of the most important marine ecosystems, and understand the effects of pollution and organic enrichment on benthic communities, and the tools to assess disturbance and/or community disruption.
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The student:
- knows the proper ecological terminology;
- knows the ecological basis of natural systems;
- has basic knowledge of the biology of the major phyla, with particular regard to invertebrates.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The studenti is able to:
- use the proper ecological terminology;
- understand the serae of ecological succession
- recognize the basic phyla of marine invertebrates Prerequisites
- No formal propedeuticity is required, however basic knowledge of zoology and botany is necessary.
Course programme
- In the first part of the course (20 hours)after an introduction to marine ecology, the student will be guided through the knowledge of oceans' strucure with particular focus on the Mediterranean Sea:
The Oceans. Plate tectonics. Mid-ocean ridges and trenches. Continental shelf, continental slope, abyssal plains. Chemical-physical characteristics of oceans. Oceanic currents. Conveyor belt. Upwelling and sinking. Tides and waves. Benthos and pelagos. Marine trophic chains. The Mediterranean Sea. Superficial, intermediate and deep currents. Origin and evolution of the Med Sea. Biogeography. Alien species and lessepsian migrations. Posidonia oceanica. Coralligeanous. Transitional ecosystems. Protected areas. Effects of climate change.
In the second part of the course (8 hours) the student will be introduced to other marine ecosystems:
Reefs. Artificial and natural reefs. Coral reefs: distribution, formation and growth. Ecological characteristics of corals. Competition among corals. Mangrove forests.
In the third part of the course (20 hours) the student will be introduced to the study of marine pollution:
Pollution of the sea. Categories of pollutants. Effects of pollutyion on benthic communities. The paradigm of Pearson & Rosenberg. The European Water Framework Directive. The European Marine Strategy Directive. Didactic methods
- The course consists of theory registered lessons for a total of 48 hours of teaching (6 credits). Lessons are uploaded weekly in the Classroom and the exposure is done through the use of power-point slides.
Learning assessment procedures
- The goal of the final test is to verify the level of knowledge of the student. The evaluation is expressed as usual (/30), the minimum grade is 18.The exam is written or oral. The written exam consists of grossly 30 open and closed questions on the main topics of the course.
Reference texts
- Notes provided by the teacher.
Mistri M - Le lagune del Delta del Po tra gestione e conservazione. Aracne Ed.
Castro, Huber - Biologia Marina. Mc Graw Hill Ed.
