Coastal areas are among the most diversified and productive ecosystems on earth and deliver a wide range of socioeconomic services to humans, but are yet highly vulnerable. Their functioning is governed by a set of ecological and biogeochemical processes that may be impaired by humans. This course will focus on marine soft-sediments, which provide the largest habitat on Earth planet and host most of marine productivity. We will see what are the ecological processes that control coastal ecosystem functioning and how organisms impact these processes. Students will conduct experiments and analyses to learn the methods used to study coastal ecosystems.
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
Semester 4
ECTS
6
FUTURE SEAS
Numerical methods for marine science
University Pierre and Marie Curie - Paris 6
Synopsis
Content
The course provides a good background for anyone you want to study benthic ecology in coastal systems and underlines the particularities of the Mediterranean Sea. The major topics of the course include: pelagic primary production, benthic/pelagic coupling, sediment-organism interactions, engineering species, and early diagenesis. The course provides multidisciplinary conceptual and methodological competencies at the boundary between marine chemistry, biogeochemistry and benthic ecology.
Pre-requisites
Basic Biological Oceanograph
Aims
Acquire knowledge and transferable tools coastal ecosystems, learn new methods
Objectives
- Describe the key ecological and biogeochemical processes controlling coastal ecosystem functioning,
- Understand the global significance of bentho-pelagic coupling in coastal environments,
- Assess the functional role of macro- and meiobenthos in coastal ecosystems (mitigation of eutrophication, burial of excess carbon and pollutants in sediments…)
Key skills acquired
- Understanding Functional ecology
- Meiofauna extraction and identification
- Fatty acid analysis by GC MS
- Benthic fluxes (O2 & nutrients) measurements
- Use of chemical sensors
Bibliography
No class book is required for the course, but books are provided to students.
Assessment
50% written examination
50% practical assignment
Involved teachers
Audrey Pruski, Jadwiga Orignac, Nadine Le Bris, Laurence Méjanelle, François Lantoine
Contact hours
lectures
18
practicals
30
seminars
0
computerclass
20
fieldwork
10
other
0