James Cook University Subject Handbook - 2003

MB3260:03

Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems

Townsville HECS Band 2

26 hours lectures, 36 hours practicals, 12 hours other contact. Semester 2.

A quota of 24 places (including ) will apply on the basis of marks in and, if applicable, mathematics subjects.

Staff: Dr S Connolly.

This subject examines classical and contemporary issues in marine ecology at the population, community and ecosystem levels. Emphasis is on relating small-scale field and laboratory studies of ecological processes to the larger spatial and temporal scales relevant to major research priorities in the ecology, conservation and management of marine systems. Ecological models play a crucial role in this endeavour and are a major focus in lectures and practicals. Topics covered include population dynamics, dispersal and connectivity, species interactions (competition, mutualism, consumer-resource interactions), biodiversity, the effects of physical processes on marine communities and the dynamics of energy and nutrients in marine systems. Practicals will focus on the use of computer software as a tool to facilitate the analysis of ecological models. This subject is appropriate for field-oriented students interested in the population and ecosystem-level consequences of the processes they study at smaller scales, as well as students interested specifically in honours and postgraduate work in ecological modelling.

Learning Objectives:

  1. understand the major biological and physical processes affecting marine populations;
  2. understand the effects of spatial and temporal scale on the dynamics of marine ecosystems;
  3. become familiar with the formulation and analysis of ecological models, assisted by computer software;
  4. understand the relationship between ecological models and data;
  5. develop the capacity to use models as a means of integrating information about ecological processes that operate on multiple scales and assessing how those processes interact to determine ecological dynamics at population and ecosystem levels.

Assessment by assignments (60%); examination (40%).