The course provides conceptual and practical knowledge of the main marine ecosystems (both natural ¬– the water column, intertidal and subtidal rocky shores, estuarine environments, soft sediments, deep seas – and anthropogenic, such as those created by artificial coastal and offshore infrastructures) and their associated dominant communities (algal canopies, saltmarshes, seagrass beds, oysters and coralligenous reefs, soft-bottom fauna, pelagic communities, focus will be on temperate systems, with hints on tropical ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves). Via examples of selected experiments and discussions of hot topic articles, students will be introduced to the interactive role of abiotic and biotic processes that generate patterns in marine communities (such as the physical environment, competition, trophic cascades, facilitation and the role of foundation species, upwelling, disturbance, succession, propagule supply), and will learn how these patterns affect the functioning of marine ecosystems and their capability to provide essential services to humans. Particular attention will be given to the main threats to marine ecosystems and approaches to marine conservation and restoration. Students will also be offered the opportunity to visit some of the main coastal marine ecosystems in the region.
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
i) apply general principles of ecology to marine ecological scientific hypotheses, problems and controversies.
ii) understand the relationship of marine organisms to their environment and the effect of these relationships to their distribution and abundance.
iii) describe the main characteristics and functioning of marine (temperate) ecosystems and associated communities;
iv) describe several threats to marine ecosystems, and what can be done to ameliorate these threats;
v) critically read and discuss research articles.
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
i) apply general principles of ecology to marine ecological scientific hypotheses, problems and controversies.
ii) understand the relationship of marine organisms to their environment and the effect of these relationships to their distribution and abundance.
iii) describe the main characteristics and functioning of marine (temperate) ecosystems and associated communities;
iv) describe several threats to marine ecosystems, and what can be done to ameliorate these threats;
v) critically read and discuss research articles.
- Docente: Laura Airoldi