MSCI 660 - Zooplankton Ecology

Spring (4) Steinberg

This course will examine the ecology, natural history, basic cell or body design features, physiology, and life histories of all the major groups of zooplankton. Food webs, specialized habitats, physical-biological coupling, and behavior are also discussed. Laboratories will concentrate on the groups or topics that are being discussed that week in lecture. The laboratories will be devoted to studying freshly collected (live local net tows), laboratory cultured, and occasionally museum specimens of the various taxa, and to introducing students to methods of study of zooplankton ecology (microscopy, biomass measurement, grazing experiments). There will also be field trips.