Marine Ecology

Learn about Marine Environments

  • Along shorelines, offshore and in the open oceans
  • Above and below the water surface and in the ocean depths
  • The problems facing marine environments
  • How those problems are able to be managed

 

COURSE CONTENT

This course has ten lessons as follows:

1. Scope and Nature of Marine Ecology 

  • Different Marine Ecosystems
  • Coral Reefs
  • Types of Coral Reef - fringing reefs, atolls, barrier reefs
  • Purpose of a Coral Reef
  • Rocky Shore
  • Kelp Forest
  • Seagrass meadow
  • Mangrove
  • Estuary
  • Salt Marsh
  • Tundras
  • Open Ocean
  • Deep Ocean

2. Biodiversity of Marine Environments

  • Measuring Biodiversity
  • Why Biodiversity Matters - species richness, genetic diversity
  • Marine Protists and Plant Life
  • Bony Fish
  • Sharks and Rays
  • Whales
  • Microscopic Invertebrates
  • Worms and Worm Like Animals
  • Corals and their Relatives
  • Molluscs and Echinoderms
  • Microbe - bacteria, fungi, marine viruses
  • Microbial Loop
  • Carbon Cycling and Dissolved Organic Carbon
  • Biodiversity in a Reef
  • Food Webs
  • Declining Biodiversity

3. Environmental Factors of Marine Environments

  • Introduction
  • Types of Water - sea, fresh, brackish
  • Oceanography
  • Oceanic circulation
  • Longitudinal Circulation
  • Southern Oscillation (El Nino, La Nina Effect)
  • Ocean Gyres
  • Ocean Zones
  • Pelagic Zone
  • Abiotic Factors - light, temperature, salinity, density, dissolved gases
  • Climate

4. Climate Change & Other Anthropogenic Pressures

  • How humans create Biodiversity Threats
  • Agricultural Runoff (into estuaries)
  • Fresh water Pollutants - sediments, agricultural chemicals, other
  • Salinity Changes
  • Oil Spills
  • Disturbed Food Chains
  • Overfishing
  • Climate Change
  • Ocean Warming and Sea Levels
  • Ocean Acidification
  • Testing pH
  • Coral Bleaching

5. Restoration of Natural Marine Ecosystems

  • Microplastics
  • Ecotoxicology
  • Eutrophication
  • Erosion
  • Flood Prevention
  • Restoring Coral Reefs
  • Coral Reef Threats- agricultural runoff, seaweed/kelp, sand, sunscreen, climate change, predators.
  • Restoration through Coral Transplantation
  • Restoration through Micro fragmentation
  • Coral Nurseries
  • Planting out Corals and Substrates
  • Regeneration using Natural Reed Beds to Purify Waste Water

6. Managing Threatened Species (Practical and Regulatory Approaches) 

  • Introduction to Invasive Species
  • Managing Invasive Species
  • Population Surveys and Monitoring
  • Census of Marine Life
  • Managing a Threatened Species via Conservation Practices
  • Conservation of Threatened Species
  • Where to Start
  • Conservation of Habitat
  • Ecological Gap Analysis
  • Reference Sites
  • Breeding Programs
  • Keystone Species
  • Predators
  • Ecosystem Engineers
  • Mutualists
  • Intervention Types - Regulation
  • Case Study 

7. Managing Fisheries in Marine Ecosystems 

  • Introduction
  • Case Study - Overfishing Orange Roughy
  • Stock Identity
  • Stock Assessment
  • Stock Biomass
  • Stock Management Methods
  • General Techniques for Managing Fisheries - habitat restoration/closure, seasonal closure, closed waters, protected Statius, Limits, Catch Quotas, Fishing methods.
  • Licences/Permits, Education Programs, Aquaculture
  • Responding to human Food Needs
  • Aquaculture/ Mariculture
  • Extensive Production Mariculture
  • Intensive Production Mariculture
  • Classification of Systems
  • Disease Management for Fisheries

8. Marine Resources and Sustainability 

  • What is a Marine Protected Area
  • How are MPA's Used
  • The AICHI Biodiversity Targets
  • Marine Protected Area Agency Partnership
  • International Guidelines for Designating and Managing MPA's
  • Designating an MPA
  • Field Work
  • Analysis of Existing Resources
  • Conservation and Monitoring of MPAs
  • Working Outside Marine Protected Areas
  • Sustainable Development
  • Preserving Environments
  • Pollution Prevention

9. Technology 

  • Introduction
  • Platforms in Oceanography
  • Ocean Robots and ROV's
  • Satellites 
  • Biodiversity
  • Other Devices
  • Digital Photography
  • High Tech Tagging
  • Biotech - DNA Barcoding and Phylogenetic Analysis
  • Microarray 
  • SNP array
  • Removal of Ocean Debris and Human Waste
  • Broad Considerations in Marine Research

10. Data in Marine Management

  • Introduction 
  • Ethics in Data
  • Principles of Measurement
  • Variables
  • Measurement Scales
  • Measurement Error
  • Bias and Consistency
  • Making Observations
  • Developing skills in observation
  • Samples and Sampling
  • Choosing a basic method of sampling
  • Using Statistics to Analyse Probability
  • Probability Parameters
  • P-Values
  • Statistics show Relationship
  • Knowing what to Ask about Data - Question types

 

Enrol Now!

Fee Information (S3)
Prices in Australian Dollars

PlanAust. PriceOverseas Price
A 1 x $834.96  1 x $759.05
B 2 x $451.44  2 x $410.40

Note: Australian prices include GST. 

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from anywhere in the world!

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