FIELD MARINE BIOLOGY and ECOLOGY:
BIOSM 375/ZOOL 675
dates: JULY 14 – AUGUST 11, 2008
credit hours: 8 semester credits
total cost: $7,536 (includes room, board and tuition)
Prerequisites: One full year of college level biology.
FMB&E emphasizes field work in natural habitats. Most of the course is concerned with intertidal plants and animals, biological oceanography, ichthyology, and marine ecology. Attention is given to introductory physical and chemical oceanography, marine geology, and fisheries biology, including the effects of human activity on the marine environment. Lectures, discussions, local field work, experience aboard a coastal research vessel, and excursions to distinctive habitats are integral parts of the course. Course content is similar to Field Marine Science.
Extensive use is made of the rich and diverse flora and fauna found in the rocky intertidal zone of Appledore Island. In addition, we may visit whale feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine, sandy beach and salt marsh habitats on the mainland, and seal and seabird colonies on neighboring islands. Field investigations, during which students both literally and figuratively immerse themselves in their work, are supplemented with appropriate lectures, films, and laboratory work. Field experience in biological oceanography is obtained on board the laboratory's coastal research vessel, the JOHN M. KINGSBURY. Similarly, studies of fisheries biology may include firsthand observations fishing from our research vessel and culminate in both dissection and ingestion of the day's catch. The broad coverage of FMB&E also involves lectures and field work in chemical and physical oceanography, marine geology, and special topics in marine ecology, including the effects of human activity on the marine environment.
During the last two weeks of the course, students will apply their knowledge of intertidal life by conducting a comparative qualitative and quantitative transect study of different intertidal habitats occurring around Appledore Island. This summer will mark over 30 seasons that FMB&E students have conducted such surveys at the Isles of Shoals. The collected data have been published in the checklist of the island's flora and fauna and in studies of biotic zonation characteristics.
Living in a near-pristine marine environment amidst one of the largest Herring and Greater Black-backed Gull colonies in the United States, students at SML acquire an understanding of the interwoven nature of life and a sense of responsibility for the ultimate fate of the world's oceans and marine life.
Suggested Readings:
- Lerman, M. 1986. Marine Biology. Sumich, J.L. 1992.
Biology of Marine Life 5th Edition - Any other general marine biology text
Recommended purchase: Gosner's Field Guide to the North Atlantic (may be purchased at SML or before arrival at most large bookstores)
Faculty from 2005:
- Dr. Kathy Ann Miller, University Herbarium, University of California Berkeley
- Dr. Christopher Siddon, University of Alaska
