Aquatic Ecology

Code:

MA227

Acronym:

EA

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Environmental Sciences and Ecology

Instance: 2013/2014 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Aquatic Production
Course/CS Responsible:	Aquatic Sciences

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LCMA	32	Plan 2012 to 2017	2	-	5	49	135

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Transmission of knowledge of the fundamentals of aquatic ecology, methods of fieldwork and evaluation of data.

Learning outcomes and competences

To get a general vision about the basic elements of Aquatic Ecology, the capacity of identifying diferent ecosystems and biotopes, to understand the principal trophic relationsships of some ecosystems, and to know some of the most representative species of the littoral.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Theoretical lessons: I. Oceans, classification of the marine environment, and currents: Definitions, structure and zonation of the physical space; distribution, boundaries, areas, volumes and depths, Coriolis, Ekman spiral, gyres and eddies, surface and bottom currents, cold wall, current system at 0º in the Atlantic. II. Abiotic factors: Physical-chemical parameters, macro- and micronutrients, dissolved and particular organic matter, hydrostatic pressure, movement of ascension, illumination. III. Biotic factors: Definitions (detritus, phyto- and zooplankton, seston, neuston, pleuston, and necton), seasonal variations between nutrients, phyto- and zooplankton in high, low and middle latitudes, and in the North Pacific Ocean, grazing, vertical migration, life cycles, general informations about necton (molluscs, fish, reptiles and marine mammals). IV. Methods and instruments: Necessities and general problems of oceanographic instruments, research vessels, equipment, instruments and methods for physical-chemical and biological sampling. V. Bactéria: Forms and functions, horizontal and vertical distribution; processes and production, examples of the Baltic and the Black Sea. VI. Primary Production: General scheme, unities and distribution of primary production in the oceans; photosynthetic and respiratory quotients; adaptation to light; compensation and critical depth; production and biomass development of phytoplankton in a water column – development of a bloom. VII. Upwelling: Causes, definitions, localizations, examples of the neritical and oceanic provinces; food chains in upwelling areas; biological production. VIII. Benthos: Definitions – size, feeding types, locomotion; larvae and development; biomass distribution; benthic societies: sand, mud and rock, with examples; phyto- and zoobenthos of hard and soft sediments; benthic interactions; benthos in great depths; food chains and trophic web scheme; benthos research methods: Study of the sediments – granulometry, organic content; presentation of statistical parameters: Abundancy, frequency, constancy, biomass, affinity, similarity, biodiversity, evenness and coefficient of dispersion. IX. Littoral, caracteristics and problem: Definitions; coastal geomorphology; zonation; tides and waves; other abiotic factors; biotic factors like competition for space and food; colonization of different substrates, characteristic species of the littoral zones; erosion; human influence and pollution (definitions, origins and problems): introduction of domestic and industrial waste water; artificial illumination; civil construction; professional and artisanal fisheries; recreational activities; protection and conservation of vulnerable areas; «littoral parks». X. Estuaries: Types and classifications; abiotic and biotic factors; “brackish water laws”; representative species; resident, periodical, summer guest, casual, and migratory species of fish; problems – erosion, sand digging, urban pressure, pollution and eutrofication. XI. Secondary productivity: Definitions, unities, «Edge Índex», grazing, filtration quotient; calculation of production, biomass-turnover-approach, Allen method; ecological efficiency and trophic levels; food chains, benthos production, structure of a food web, quantification of trophic levels. XII. Classification of the estuarine, lagunar and freshwater environments: Definitions, structure and zonation of continental or inland waters (subterranean and cave water; surface current and stagnated waters).

Practical lessons: 1. Zonation: Intertidal zonation of Aguda´s beach, identification and statistical avaliation of representative species of the marine fauna and flora, determination of colonization differences of a rocky and sandy beach. 2. Dunes: Formation, colonization and zonation of dunes, representative species, necessity of creating littoral parks. 3. The Changing Littoral: Climatic changes, sealevel rise, geomorphology of the littoral, coastal erosion and measures of mitigation.

Mandatory literature

Gray John S.; ecology of marine sediments. ISBN: 0-521-28027-3
Russell-Hunter; Aquatic Productivity, Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc. New York, 1989
Raffaeli & Hawkins; Intertidal ecology, Chapman & Hall, London, 1996
Barnes R. S. K. ed.; Fundamentals of aquatic ecosystems. ISBN: 0-682-00014-7
Cushing D. H. ed.; ecology of the seas. ISBN: 0-632-00341-3
Kinne Otto ed.; Marine ecology
Kaiser et al; Marine Ecology, Oxford University Press, 2005
Castro Peter; Marine biology. ISBN: 978-0-07-302819-4
Tardent; Marine Biology, Thieme, Stuttgart, Germany,, 1994
Levington; Marine Biology, Oxford University Press, 2001

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical lessons with video projection and overhead transparencies. Practical lessons in the intertidal zone of Aguda´s beach, in the Dune Park, and in the Littoral Station of Aguda (aquarium).

Evaluation Type

Evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	100,00
Total:	100,00

Eligibility for exams

2/3 of practical lessons

Calculation formula of final grade

100 % written examination

Classification improvement

written examination