CLASS MEETS IN ROOM 030 LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING, MWF 10:40-11:35 A.M.

Instructor - Jeffrey Levinton, rm 680 Life Sciences Lab. (phone 28602; email levinton@life.bio.sunysb.edu), Office Hrs: M 1140-1230, phone or email anytime for appt. or Do drop in!)Teaching Assistant - Paul Bourdeau, email bourdeau@life.bio.sunysb.edu, Office Hrs TBA

Campus academic calendar - spg 2009

Downloading ppt lectures: The transparencies were prepared in Microsoft PowerPoint but you will download pdf versions, without photos. If you click the links below (e.g., "Ch. 1, 2" in the week of Jan. 22) you will be taken to a web page with links for each lecture set, cued to a chapter. If you click a chapter, the power point file will start to automatically download and will probably open up on your computer.

Week of:	Topic and Due Dates
26 Jan	Introduction: The Ocean, Topography, Sea Floor (Chapter 1, Chapter 2a, Chapter 2b CLASSES COMMENCE ON JAN. 22
2 Feb	The Ocean (Contd) Circulation, Coastal Processes (Chapter 2) How Coriolis Effect works going east and west
9 Feb	Ecological Principles (Chapter 3a, Chapter 3b) GRAPHICS AND DATA INTERPRETATION EXERCISE, DUE Monday Feb. 9 in class
16 Feb	Physiological Responses to Marine Environments (Chapter 4)
23 Feb	Reproductive Strategies, Dispersal, and Migration (Chapter 6a ,Chapter 6b EXAM 1 ON MONDAY MARCH 2
2 Mar	Life in a Fluid Medium (Ch. 5) RESEARCH LITERATURE EXERCISE, DUE MON., MAR. 2 in class
9 Mar	Life in Open Water (Ch. 7 and Ch. 8)
16 Mar	Critical Factors in Plankton Abundance (Ch. 9) PAPER I DUE MARCH 27, 5 P.M.
23 Mar	Productivity in the Sea (Ch. 10)
30 Mar	Benthic Life Habits (Ch. 13a ) (Ch 13b)
6 Apr	SPRING BREAK
13 Apr	The Tidelands and Estuaries (Ch. 14) EXAM II on FRIDAY, 17 APR. (Ch. 6-13)
20 Apr	NO CLASS APR 21, Sea Grass Beds, Kelp Forests, Coral Reefs (Ch. 15)
28 Apr	From the Continental Shelf to the Deep Sea, Patterns in Marine Diversity (Ch. 16, Ch. 17) Chapter 16: read ENTIRE CHAPTER Chapter 17: read pp. 492-508 FIELD TRIP MAY 9th or May 10th
4 May	Food From the Sea (Ch. 18), PAPER II DUE FRIDAY, MAY 8, 5 P.M
11-12 May	READING DAYS
	Final Exam, WEDNESDAY, May 13, 9-10 A.M. - Final Exam covers last third of course (Ch. 14-19)

PURPOSE OF COURSE

Marine ecology is the study of the relationship of marine organisms to their environment. We will first introduce aspects of oceanography and sea water properties necessary to understand how marine creatures survive and reproduce. Next, we will discuss physiological function and reproduction. We will introduce the organisms living in open waters and then we will cover coastal marine habitats. Important will be a synthesis of how the overall ocean influences the diversity of marine life. finally, we will discuss fisheries, mariculture, and pollution.

FORMAT

The course will consist of three lectures per week. The teaching assistant (Bengt Allen) will conduct a review session before each examination. There will be three examinations, whose format will be relatively short answers (words, sentences, diagrams). The examination will be non-comprehensive, which is to say that each exam will only cover part of the semester's lectures. I will also ask you to write two papers. The purpose of these papers is to: (1) Develop your writing skills; (2) improve your ability to reason using marine ecological concepts and data; and (3) develop your skills at examining the scientific literature. You may turn in the papers to fulfill the upper division writing requirement for the Biology major.

GRADING

All three examinations will count for 50 % of the final grad (each exam weighted equally) and the papers will count for 45 % (paper I counts 15 %, paper II counts 30%). Exercises will count for 5 % of the final grade. All non-medically related makeup examinations will be given in advance of the regularly scheduled exam.THERE WILL BE EXTRA-CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES DURING THE SEMESTER. SEE ANNOUNCEMENTS.
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TEXTBOOK

The required text for this course, Marine Biology. Function, Biodiversity, Ecology, by J. Levinton (3nd edition Oxford University Press, 2009) will be available at the bookstore.

FIELD TRIP

There will be a 4 hour REQUIRED class field trip on the weekends on Saturday May 3, or Sunday May 11. The trip is required. You can choose to go on either Saturday or Sunday. See field trip instructionsor gear, etc. Trip on May 9 is at 7 A.M. Trip on May 10 is at 8 A.M. You must come on one of these two days.

ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY

We take academic honesty seriously. All written assignments must be prepared individually. General discussion among students is welcomed, but the moment you start working on an assignment you should do it on your own with no seeking of answers from others. Plagiarism is defined as using the results or prose of others without citing it. You must not plagiarize the work of your fellow students, or previously written works of any others. Exams are also individual exercises. Studying with others is a good idea. In class at the time of the test, however, you must use only your own individual wits and a pen. Don’t expect much sympathy for violations; they will be handled according to university rules.