OC 648 Marine Benthic Ecology Fall 2003

Lecture Outline

Topic lecture # (date)

I. Introduction

A. Course structure & assignments

B. Benthic vs. water-column biological oceanography 1 (9/29)

2. The Sedimentary milieu

A. Static properties of marine sediments 2 (10/1)

B. Physics of bottom boundary layers 3 (10/3)

C. Sediment transport 4 (10/6)

D. Geochemical patterns in the seabed 5 (10/8)

Focus Period 1: Doing science (class discussion) (TBD, 10/13-10/17)

3. Soft-bottom benthic organisms

A. Sediment microbes (sensu lato) 6 (10/10)

B. Macrophytes (sea weeds & seagrasses) 7 (10/13)

C. Meiofauna and macrofauna (types, functional groups) 8 (10/15)

D. Macrofaunal patterns on the Pacific Northwest margin 9 (10/17)

E. Macrofaunal patterns of Yaquina estuary 10 (10/20)

(Tony D’Andrea)

Focus Period 2: A worm’s-eye view of the world (TBD, 1017-10/22)

(class oral presentations)

4. Foraging ecology

A. Optimal foraging theory 11 (10/22)

B. Deposit feeding

1. Theory (Cara Fritz) 12 (10/24)

2. Observations (Cara Fritz) 13 (10/27)

C. Suspension feeding

1. Theory 14 (10/31)

2. Observations 15 (11/3)

5. Reproduction & life history

A. Development types and life history models 16 (11/5)

B. Recruitment 17 (11/7)

Field Trip to Yaquina sand flat 11/8 – 11/9

C. Adult-juvenile interactions (18) 11/10

OC 648 Lecture Outline (cont.)

Focus Period 3: Larval settlement: how to land in the right place (TBD, 11/10-11/14)

(class discussion)

6. Processes regulating community structure

A. Equilibrium processes

1. Competition, part 1 19 (11/12)

2. Competition, part 2 20 (11/14)

3. Predation 21 (11/17)

Focus Period 4: Tropic group amensalism: The rise and fall (TBD, 11/17-11/21)

of a hypothesis (class discussion)

B. Disequilibrium processes

1. Physical and biological disturbance 22 (11/19)

2. Physical and biological disturbance 23 (11/21)

3. Colonization and succession 24 (11/24)

7. Miscellaneous topics in benthic ecology

A. Deep-sea species diversity 25 (11/26)

B. Benthic responses to pollution 26 (12/1)

C. Open (topic TBD) 27 (12/3)

Focus Period 5: Class oral presentations (session 1) (TBD,12/1-12/4)

Class oral presentations (session 2) (12/5)