Marine ecology & biodiversity - PSL Week
Master in Life Sciences, ENS
UNBIO1-046 (BIO-M1-S17) | Marine ecology & biodiversity
Year and Semester : M1/M2 | S1
Where : Biology department, ENS
Duration : 30 hours
First and last day of class : November 25 – November 29, 2024
Coordination
Credits
3 ECTS (or 2 ECTS for the students from the PSL week)
Keywords
Marine ecology | biodiversity | planktonic communities | biogeography | marine biogeochemistry.
Course Prerequisites
The targeted audience is Master students in biology or geosciences. Participants trained in other fields are welcome provided they had exposure to fundamental notions of ecology or oceanography and can register through the website of the PSL week (https://psl-week.psl.eu).
In case external students do not have prerequisites in biology or geosciences, they are expected to read one of the following books :
– In French : Barbault, R. (2008) Ecologie Générale. 6ème édition. Dunod, Paris.
– In English : Gotelli, N.J. (2008) A Primer Of Ecology. 4th edition. Sinauer Assoc.
Course objectives and description
Aims : The purpose of the course is to provide a thorough introduction to marine biogeochemistry and environmental physics and how they influence biodiversity in the oceans.
Themes : Marine ecosystems are constituted by diverse communities that are shaped by the interplay between their physical and chemical environment, ocean currents, and their biological traits, including their ability to compete and disperse. During this week, we will introduce the fundamentals of life diversity in marine environments, starting with the key notions of oceans’ physics and biogeochemistry. We will then move into the question of ocean’s biodiversity and how organisms disperse and adapt in the marine environment. A focus will be made on marine top predators and how one can study them through tracking approaches and satellite imaging. We will then explore the ‘invisible biosphere’ of marine microorganisms, by paying special attention to diatoms and protists.
Organisation :
The course will be composed of 7 lectures and 1 practical session (computers will be required).
Assessment
The evaluation is based on a written exam on Friday afternoon.
For IMaLiS students, the evaluation consists in a short-answer exam and an essay (3 ECTS).
For students from the PSL week, the evaluation consists in a short-answer exam only (2 ECTS).
Course material
Suggested reading in relationship with the module content
• Brown JM (1995) Macroecology. Univ. of Chicago Press.
• Magurran AE, McGill BJ (2011) Biological Diversity. Oxford University Press.
• Miller CB, Wheeler PA (2012) Biological Oceanography. Wiley-Blackwell.
