Marine Ecology III

This course aims to provide an understanding of the patterns of abundance and diversity of marine plants and animals and the processes that structure these patterns. Emphasis is placed on the challenges in understanding the complexity of marine systems and the solutions to quantifying them. In addition, throughout the course students should gain an understanding of the use of coherent logical procedures and rigorous experimental design to provide practical evidence for the development of theory and solutions to environmental and conservation problems in coastal habitats. The habitats and organisms used to illustrate lectures are derived from ecological studies of subtidal rocky and coral reefs, intertidal rocky reefs, mangrove forests, salt marshes, seagrass meadows, urban structures and pelagic habitats. The field camp in the mid-semester break combines these components in a practical setting.