MARINE BIOLOGY
BIOL 410, SPRING 2007

Instructor:

Dr. Mark Dybdahl
Office: 269 Eastlick
Office Hours: MW 11:10-12:00 and by appointment
Phone: 335-7909
E-mail: dybdahl@wsu.edu

Lectures: MWF 10:10-11:00 pm, 119 CUE

Labs: 170 Eastlick

Teaching Assistant/Lab Instructor:
Leslie Riley
Office: 271 Eastlick
Office Hours: T, TH 10:10-11:00 and by appointment
Phone: 335-7914
E-mail: leslie_riley@wsu.edu

Web Page: http://www.wsu.edu/~dybdahl/marbiol.html

Overview of course:
This course covers the physical structure, the organisms, and the ecological processes of the oceans, from the shore to the deep sea. To understand the environments faced by marine biological diversity, the course will survey the chemical and physical properties of oceans and their habitats. We will survey the structure, adaptations, and life styles of marine organisms, and examine how organisms vary among habitats. Finally, the course will examine ecological and ecosystem processes in the major marine habitats. We will focus on the processes that determine the diversity of organisms in marine communities. Special topics incorporated into the course will include current issues in marine environmental management and conservation.

Course Requirements:
Midterm exams (2, 20% each) and a cumulative final (30%) (total 70%)
Discussion and Reading Reports and discussion participation (4) (20%)

Written report: Computer lab on El Nino (10%)

Extra credit: Essay on optional book (up to 10%)

Required Book:

Marine Biology, 6^th Edition. P. Castro and M.E. Huber. McGraw Hill Press, 2007

Wk	Date		Topic	Reading
			The Physial Ocean
1	8 Jan	1	Introduction	Ch 1
	10 Jan	2	Geomorphology of oceans	Ch 2
	12 Jan	3	Nature of water	Ch 3
2	15 Jan		HOLIDAY
	17 Jan	4	Ocean circulation
	19 Jan	5	Tides
3	22 Jan	6	Ocean environments
			Biological Oceanography
	24 Jan	7	LAB: El Nino computer lab I
	26 Jan	8	Ocean productivity	Ch 10
4	29 Jan	9	Ocean productivity
	31 Jan	10	Ocean productivity
	2 Feb	11	LAB: El Nino computer lab II
5	5 Feb		Discussion: Oceans & climate
			Marine Organisms
	7 Feb	12	History of life, adaptation	Ch 4
	9 Feb	13	Marine Invertebrates	Ch 5, 15
6	12 Feb		Midterm I
	14 Feb	14	Marine Plankton	Ch 7
	16 Feb	15	LAB: Marine Plankton
7	19 Feb		HOLIDAY
	21 Feb	16	Marine Inverts: suspension feeding
	23 Feb	17	LAB: Marine Invertebrate feeding	Ch 8
8	26 Feb	18	Marine Inverts: Reproduction	Ch 4
	28 Feb	19	Marine Inverts: Reproduction
	2 Mar	20	Marine fishes
9	5 Mar	21	Marine fishes	Ch 9
	7 Mar	22	Discussion: Marine fishing impacts
	9 Mar	23	LAB: Marine fishes
			Spring break
10	19 Mar	24	Marine reptiles, birds
	21 Mar	25	Marine birds
	23 Mar	26	LAB: Marine Birds
			Marine Communities
11	26 Mar	27	Marine Mammals	Ch 10
	28 Mar	28	Community diversity	Ch 6
	30 Mar	29	Midterm II
12	2 Apr	30	Marine angiosperms
	4 Apr	31	Kelp beds and forests	Ch 6, 13
	6 Apr	32	LAB: Marine mammals
13	9 Apr	33	Coral reefs	Ch 14
	11 Apr	34	Coral reefs
	13 Apr	35	Discussion: Coral Bleaching	Ch 17
14	16 Apr	36	Intertidal ecology	Ch 11
	18 Apr	37	Intertidal ecology
	20 Apr	38	Soft Sediment communities
15	23 Apr	39	Marine invasions
	25 Apr	40	Marine conservation	Ch 18
	27 Apr	41	Discussion: Marine Reserves	Ch 18
16	1 May		FINAL: Tuesday, 1 May, 8-10 am

Optional books for Extra credit:

I think you would enjoy reading one of the following books during the quarter, and as incentive, I will offer extra credit worth as much as 10% of your score for a 6 page Essay written on the book. That means you could raise your final grade by as much as a full grade (e.g. C+ to B+).

Rachel Carson. 1951. The Sea Around Us. Oxford University Press. This book will be the subject of a required essay. It was the winner of the National Book Award in 1952, The author is one of the first important writers about science and environmental awareness, and later author of "Silent Spring."

Steinbeck, John. 1941. The Log from the Sea of Cortez. Penguin Books. A classic about a trip to Baja California taken by Steinbeck with an eccentric California marine biologist (Ed Ricketts). Some biology and a great story.

Earle, Sylvia. 1995. Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans. Fawcett Columbine, New York. This book is an informative and authoritative account of marine biology, deep sea research, and the future of the oceans. It is written by a marine biologist who is a proponent of deep sea research and diving techniques. The book is also autobiographical.

Safina, Carl. 1997. Song for the Blue Ocean. Owl Books, Henry Holt. Dr. Safina is the head of the Living Ocean program at Audobon Society, a conservation group. This book is on the status and future of fish stocks in three parts of the world: the western Pacific tropical islands, the salmon of the northern Pacific, and the tunas of the Atlantic.

See also: Safina, Carl. 2002. Eye of the Albatross. Safina, Carl. 2006. Voyage of the Turtle.

Ellis, Richard. 2003. The Empty Ocean. Island Press. ISBN 1-55963-974-1. A very recent book that describes conservation issues in fisheries, marine mammals, seabirds, sea turtles, and coral reefs. More extensive than the Safina book, and with the latest information, but less in-depth on the three Safina topics.

Notice: Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify the instructor during the first week of class of any accommodations needed for the course. Late notification may cause the requested accommodations to be unavailable. All accommodations must be approved through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) in Administration Annex room 205, 335-1566, e-mail <mailto:drc@mail.wsu.edu>drc@mail.wsu.edu in Pullman.

Discussion Reading Reports:

The goal of the discussions is to introduce diverse ideas in marine ecology. Reading reports will be assigned for the same papers that will be the topic of discussions. The

discussion reading reports are a good tool for practicing your skills in writing, and in analysis of research and ideas in marine ecology. In addition, by working on these reports, you will be preparing for the discussion sessions. These papers will be due at the end of the Discussion session, so you will have them as an aid during the discussion.

Your report should be a paragraph or two in length and should include the following:

1. Heading: Give the author(s), year of publication, title, and publication details of the article and the senior author's affiliation.

Citation style for journal articles:

Bell, M.A. 1997. Origin of metazoan phyla: Cambrian explosion or proterozoic slow burn? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 12:1-2

2. In the first paragraph, summarize the main point(s) of the reading. In your own words, distill the paper into a few sentences. The summary should be accurate, complete and self-sufficient – it should make sense even to a reader who has not read the original article. Summarizing a paper is the first step to developing your own synthesis and integration the information.

3. In the second paragraph, make an assessment of the reading. Analyze the major strength of the reading, the major weakness, and give your overall opinion or evaluation of the reading (1-2 sentences each). The readings might lead you to ask particular questions; discuss those questions.

4. In 1-2 sentences, state why you think this reading is important to the topic, and to marine ecology in general.

Reading reports will be graded as follows:

0: no report

50%: inadequate

70%: acceptable

90%: very good

100%: exceptional

The best reports will demonstrate (1) an understanding of the information and arguments in the papers, (2) a thoughtful, probing evaluation of the papers strengths and weaknesses, and (3) comments that place this paper in context of broader questions in marine ecology.