Marine Community Ecology - Organisms and Habitats

Community ecology is about how species interact and coexist and thereby form groups of populations that we refer to as communities. The course provides an introduction to this topic through studies of marine communities. We provide an overview of different kinds of marine communities and the main characteristics of their organisms and environments. We focus on how organisms have adapted to their habitats and how species influence each other to form the structure and dynamics in a community. In particular, we will study the interactions between predators and prey and emphasize how communities vary over time (such as through the year). We will also study how humans impact marine communities. Furthermore, we will zoom in on some selected adaptations and processes that impact community dynamics and perform smaller literature based research projects on those topics.

We read the book Marine Community Ecology and Conservation (2013) by Bertness et al.

Knowledge

The candidate can:

• describe different kinds of marine communities and habitats and the main characteristics of these communities with respect to the physical and biological environment
• analyze and evaluate potential explanations for relationships between environmental characteristics and the evolutionary adaptations of organisms
• apply ecological theory to explain how individuals and species can impact each other and how these interactions impact structure and dynamics of communities
• explain how humans impact marine communities and habitats, for instance through harvesting, area use, pollution, and global warming.

Skills

The candidate can:

• discuss and problematize the field of marine community ecology, both in writing and orally
• formulate relevant research questions within the field
• answer research questions by searching and reading relevant scientific literature

General competence

The candidate can:

• write a project report which synthesizes and discusses findings from a literature study
• reflect around knowledge and research and how a research field, such as marine community ecology, develops

Spring.

This course has a limited capacity, enrolment is based on application. The application deadline is Wednesday in week 2 for the spring semester. Please see this page for more information. You will receive confirmation of whether you received a seat in Studentweb no later than Monday the week after the deadline.

It is compulsory to attend the first lecture/orientation meeting, or you risk losing your seat. If you are unable to attend the first lecture, you must contact the Study Section (studie.bio@uib.no)studie.bio@uib.no The time of the first lecture/orientation meeting can be found in the schedule on the course website or on Mitt UiB.