sideration of deterministic, stochastic, and spatially explicit approaches. Lectures are supplemented with readings from the primary literature and students receive hands-on experience building and using models through in-class lab exercises.
MSCI 652 - Marine Plankton Ecology. Fall, odd years (3) Smith, Steinberg, Tang. Prerequisite: MSCI 524 or 526 or consent of the instructors This course will cover contemporary topics in cellular, population, community and ecosystem level dynamics of plankton systems, including nutrients and organic matter, viruses, bacteria, phytoplankton, protists and zooplankton. Course format will be primarily discussions, student presentations, literature evaluation, and writing exercises. MSCI 653 - Marine Benthos. As required (3) Diaz, Schaffner. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor Ecology of marine and estuarine benthos is the focus of this course. Emphasis is placed on determining how ecological processes affect function and structure of benthic communities. Consideration is given to interactions among autotrophs, microheterotrophs and larger metazoans and interactions between these organisms and their physical-chemical environments. MSCI 655 - Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry. Fall, even years (2) Anderson, Bronk This course is a survey of applications that use stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur to define elemental flow through experimental and natural systems. Topics include stable isotope theory; tracer versus natural abundance techniques; quantifying processes of elemental uptake, regeneration, and respiration; and defining trophic relationships using multiple tracers. MSCI 656 - Seagrass Ecosystems. Spring, odd years (1-2) Moore, Orth This lecture-seminar course covers topics related to seagrass ecosystems. Emphasis will be on the structure and function of seagrass communities, submerged angiosperm physiology, primary and secondary production, and integration of seagrass communities to the marine environment. Students will be assigned projects to complete. Course credit will depend upon difficulty of the assignments and must be arranged prior to registration. MSCI 658 - Larval Ecology. Spring, odd years (3) Mann The course is based on a broad discussion of the following topics within the marine invertebrates: the concept of the larval form, spawning and developmental patterns, limitations on the fertilization process and embryology, the Reynolds number environment at typical larval size, feeding and nutrition in the larval size range, larval size and parental investment, larval dispersal and supply in maintaining community structure, roles of physical versus biological processes in inducing metamorphosis, early post-metamorphic survival, and larval ecology in extreme environments. MSCI 659 - Phytoplankton Ecology. Fall, odd years (3) Smith. Prerequisites: MSCI 501 (may be taken concurrently with Instructor’s consent.) This course will examine the factors, which influence the growth, losses and distributions of phytoplankton in marine systems. Topics include photosynthesis, pigmentation, productivity, biochemical fractionation, grazing, and nutrient uptake and interactions. A laboratory will introduce students to modern methods used in the study of phytoplankton such as isotopic measurements, HPLC analysis of pigments, fluorometry, and image analysis. Samples from the local estuaries will be used in the laboratories to illustrate the principles discussed in class.
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