MARINE BOTANY: BIOSM 449/PBIO 723

dates:              To be offered in 2009 or 2010

credit hours:    4 semester credits

total cost:        $tbd (includes room, board and tuition)

Prerequisite: Field Marine Science or one year of introductory biology.

An introduction to the biology of marine plants, with an emphasis on the macroalgae common to the Gulf of Maine and found in abundance at the Isles of Shoals. Lecture topics will include productivity in the world's oceans, rocky shore ecology, commercial cultivation of algae, and phytoplankton ecology, as well as molecular analyses of the evolution and biogeography of marine plants. Field and laboratory exercises include collection and identification of algae from Appledore's intertidal and subtidal habitats, experimental design and data analysis for field study, and tidepool community surveys. Individual field projects may involve studies of algal growth, productivity as it relates to morphology, photosynthesis, and desiccation during low tide.

Tentative Lecture Topics:

• Introduction to marine producers
• Brown, green and red algae
• Rocky shore ecology
• Marine vascular plants
• Salt marshes
• Commercial cultivation of marine algae
• Diatoms and other Chrysophyta
• Dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria
• Phytoplankton ecology
• Tropical coasts with reefs, mangroves and seagrasses
• Molecular evolution and biogeography of marine algae

• Collection & identification of macroalgae
• Field study of Ascophyllum growth
• Productivity of different morphological types of macroalgae
• Recovery of photosyntheses after desiccation
• Tidepool surveys
• Collection and indentification of phytoplankton
• Experimental design and data analysis for field projects
• Individual field projects