MSCI 650 - Estuarine Ecology

Fall, even years Credits: (3) Brush

This course covers the ecology of estuaries from the ecosystems perspective. Topics will include both the abiotic setting of estuaries, including geological, physical, and chemical processes, and the biotic components and their interactions, including nutrient dynamics, biogeochemistry, primary production, ecosystem metabolism, secondary production, food web dynamics, and structured habitats. The course ends with overviews of current and emerging issues in estuarine science, including eutrophication, freshwater diversion, and climate change. Class meetings will consist of informal lectures and interactive discussions, supplemented with readings from textbooks and the primary literature and “virtual field trips” to specific estuaries. Students will work on a semester-long project to synthesize course content into an estuarine-focused wiki or website, and will develop a final project on a focused topic or estuarine system(s) that synthesizes available literature, data, and/or models.