BIOL374-14S2 (C) Semester Two 2014

Marine Ecosystems

30 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 14 July 2014
End Date: Sunday, 16 November 2014
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Friday, 25 July 2014
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 10 October 2014

Description

Advanced theories, concepts and applications of marine ecology to current issues.

The compulsory Field Course will run in Kaikoura from 23 - 27 August.

Course description
The course is concerned primarily with population and community ecology in marine ecosystems, including hard and soft shores, and the open ocean. ‘Ecosystems’, however, include both the biotic and abiotic interactions that together affect the natural structure and functioning of populations and communities. These processes are highly variable in space and time. Understanding such variability critically underpins our knowledge of marine ecosystems. Furthermore, understanding how human-induced change overlays these natural processes is increasingly important as impacts accelerate from a wide range or sources and activities.
Life histories, demographic characteristics of populations and interactions within and among species of algae, animals and micro-organisms provide the basis for understanding ecological principles. Processes include oceanic processes, recruitment, predation models, competition, and disturbance-resilience. Current issues involving marine ecosystems and human usage are discussed, including fisheries, marine protected areas, invasive species, pollution impacts and climate change.
Taken together, therefore, the course will bring an in-depth perspective on the functioning of marine ecosystems.

Course Goals
This course is designed to teach advanced concepts in marine science. These are embedded in considerations of current issues relating to the marine environment and marine management initiatives. We discuss methods, fundamental principles, issues and case histories of ecological studies across a range of marine ecosystems. By including interactions of ecological processes with the many spatial and temporal scales of physical processes affecting them, this course will provide the necessary skills for understanding marine ecosystems and advancement in ecological disciplines. We work closely with NIWA and Regional Councils, and so the material we present is known to underpin practical issues relating to management. A list of lecture topics, with a précis of each, is included on LEARN and summarised within this document. Note: exact timing of particular lectures may change, so the topic schedule will be updated during the course.

Learning Outcomes

Intended Learning Outcomes and Associated Assessment
As a student in this course, I will develop the ability to:
1. Understand ecological drivers creating and maintaining structure and diversity within a range of marine ecosystems, including hard and soft shores, and the open ocean (assessment task: final exam)
2. Understand advanced theory and principles relating to marine ecosystems (assessment: laboratory projects);
3. Understand NZ marine ecosystems and how they compare to other areas of the world (assessment task: final exam);
4. Apply ecological theory to the mitigation and management of current issues in marine ecosystems (assessment task: final exam);
5. Develop practical skills in field sampling techniques (assessment task: research project and field trip exercises);
6. Develop practical skills in analysing data and writing a scientific report (assessment tasks: laboratory and research project report).

Transferable Skills Register
As a student in this course, I will develop the following skills:
1. Synthesising information from background lectures and the primary literature. This skill underpins the advancement of science and the development of your own understanding. In lectures and lab-based tutorials we will discuss research in a group environment to aid your ability to understand core issues across the marine domain, relate this to other ecosystems (e.g., terrestrial and freshwater), and use as background for assessment tasks.
2. Collecting field data. Important for research and in scientific organisations. This will be developed in the field and augmented in laboratory-based work, which will provide both hands-on and model-based contexts for data acquisition.
3. Analysing data. Important for research, and in some non-scientific organisations. This skill will be developed as we help you work with data collected in the field and in laboratories.
4. Writing a report on findings. Communication of science is fundamental to its use and advancement. We will have discussions to provide instruction on the elements of successful reports and help you identify these elements with clear marking rubrics.

Prerequisites

Recommended Preparation

Course Coordinator

For further information see School of Biological Sciences Head of Department

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Field Trip - write-up 35%
Final Exam 50%
Lab Reports 5%
One hour test/assessment 10%

Additional Course Outline Information

Academic integrity

Plagiarism
It is essential that you are aware that plagiarism is considered a very serious offence by the Academic community, the University and the School of Biological Sciences. Plagiarism is defined as taking content from another work or author and presenting it, without attribution, as if it is your own work. Content here includes text (sentences or major parts of sentences), display items (graphs and tables), and overall structure (the detailed sequence of ideas). Plagiarism includes:
• re-use of previous assignments (even if each individual sentence has been rephrased to say the same thing in different words, if the overall structure is re-used)  
• copying of another student’s work (with or without their consent)
• the unreferenced use of published material or material from the internet e.g. cutting and pasting of paragraphs or pages into an essay.
For most pieces of in-term assessment you will be given information concerning the use of direct and indirect quotes from previously published work. If you are in any doubt about appropriate use of published material, please speak with a member of academic staff. If you are still unsure what plagiarism is, then seek advice.

It is a School policy that courses may request you submit work electronically for subsequent analysis of originality using Turnitin. Students agree that by taking courses in BIOL, required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism.  All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers.  Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com site.

Assessment and grading system

SBS Grading
A+ 90% or above
A 85 – 90
A- 80 – 84
B+ 75 – 79
B 70 – 74
B- 65 – 69
C+ 60 – 64
C 55 – 59
C- 50 – 54

A restricted pass (R) may be awarded to those who are close to a pass (i.e. an overall score of 48-49.9%) AND who have achieved at least a 40% overall score in both in-course assessment and tests/exams. If an R grade is awarded you gain credit for the course but cannot continue into papers that require this course as a pre-requisite. NB. The R grade is only available at 100 and 200 level - it cannot be awarded for third year papers.

Failing grades:   D   40-49             E  0–39

Notes

What if I have written more than the word or page limit?

If there is a word limit on an assignment, it is usually there to stop you doing too much work and to encourage you to write succinctly.  It also makes things easier to assess.  You can be up to 10% over without too much worry, but if the length increases beyond that your mark may suffer due to failure to follow the requirements.  If you find yourself way over the word limit have a chat to the lecturer concerned about how to trim your assignment to an acceptable length.

Requests for extensions

Reports and assignments should be handed in on time. Extensions may be granted if you have a valid reason. If you require an extension, you should request one from the course co-ordinator (or the lecturer responsible for marking the work), with as much notice as possible.  Please do this BEFORE the deadline for the assignment. If you have been given an extension you should hand the work DIRECTLY to the course coordinator (do not put it in the drop box as it may not be cleared after the due date).
If an extension has not been granted:
• work must be handed in by the due date to gain full credit
• work handed in up to 7 days after the deadline will be marked, but the marks will be discounted 25% before they are recorded to the student's credit
• any work handed in more than 7 days after the deadline date will not be marked or earn credit.

What do I do if I'm sick?

If you feel that illness, injury, bereavement or other critical circumstances have prevented you from completing an item of assessment worth 10% or more of total course assessment or have affected your performance in a test or exam, you should visit a doctor within 24 hours and submit the application form to Erskine 235 within 7 days. The application form is available on-line or from the Student Health and Counselling Service. You should also notify the course co-ordinator.  For further details on aegrotat applications, please refer to the University’s website - http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/exams/aegrotats.shtml). The aegrotat provisions are intended to assist students who have covered the work of a course but have been prevented by illness or other critical circumstances from demonstrating their mastery of the material or skills at the time of assessment – they do not excuse you from doing the assessment. If the examiner cannot assess your aegrotat application because of lack of other evidence, you may be asked to sit a special assessment if you miss a final exam. You should also expect to be required to submit additional work if you miss a major assignment (e.g. a field trip for which a major write-up is required). Please note: acceptance of the grounds for an aegrotat application does not simply excuse you from completing items of assessment if you are requested to do so. You will be given reasonable time to complete any such work.

What do I do if I have to miss something?

In rare cases you may not be able to sit a test or exam, or attend a field trip, because of involvement in international or national representative sport or cultural groups. In such cases see the course co-ordinator, and a course of action (usually the sitting of an equivalent test or exam at a different time, or submitting an equivalent piece of written assessment) will be arranged. This should be done well in advance of the set date for a missed exam/test/assignment. Please note – holiday trips, weddings, birthday parties etc. are not given special status in the University policy, so please do not ask for special consideration in these circumstances.

What if I fail part of the course?

In BIOL, we require a satisfactory level of achievement in both the theoretical aspects of the discipline and in practical activities. This means you must attend all class activities and submit all items of assessment unless you have a very good reason not to (e.g. medical reasons). A student must attain a score of at least 40% for in-course assessment and at least 40% in the course exam/test, AND score at least 50% overall for the course, to be awarded a passing grade.

What’s the best way to give feedback?

We welcome constructive feedback at all times – help us to make this a valuable course for you.  We endeavour to remain approachable at all times.  If you would rather give feedback anonymously, please use the C.E.M. survey or talk to lab demonstrators, or your class rep. who will all report back to the staff-student liaison committee that includes a representative from each of the undergraduate classes. Class representatives will be selected from each class at the start of course.

What’s the best way to complain?

If you feel you have not been fairly treated during this course, please raise the issue with the lecturer or course co-ordinator in the first instance.  Other avenues include your class rep., who can raise issues anonymously, or the UCSA education coordinator.

Where to submit and collect work

All assignments should be placed in the designated collection box in the foyer of the 2nd floor of the School of Biological Sciences (near the main office), unless directed otherwise by the course co-ordinator. All assignments must be accompanied by a cover sheet signed by you stating that the submitted work is not plagiarised. Cover sheets are available on top of the collection boxes, or you can download one from the Biology website (under Undergraduate). In addition, you may also be asked to submit your work electronically (via Learn) for analysis in Turnitin. You will be given instructions on how to do this in the assignment handout.

Marked assignments can be collected from the Secretaries' Office between the hours 9.30-10.30am and 1.30-2.30pm, unless directed otherwise by the course co-ordinator. Teaching staff will endeavour to return work as soon as possible, and should contact you if there are likely to be any delays that will prevent return within the maximum 4-week timeframe.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,739.00

International fee $8,326.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see School of Biological Sciences .

All BIOL374 Occurrences

  • BIOL374-14S2 (C) Semester Two 2014