BIO 60: Marine Biology: Ecosystem

Highlights of the assignment:

• As a group, choose one of the ecosystems listed on this page.
• Each person in the group must choose a subtopic related to the ecosystem the group has selected.
• 6-10-page paper on the ecosystem and subgroup:
• Include overview of the ecosystem and importance of the system.
• Introduce the subtopic and its place in the ecyosystem.
• Conclude with a summarizing paragraph.
• No direct quotes. Re-state content in your own words.
• Use MLA format for your paper and citations (Works Cited)
• At least 4 sources are required (textbook plus 3 sources):
• Students' textbook
• One specialized encyclopedia article (no general encyclopedia)
• One book published within the last 10 years
• One scholarly (peer-reviewed) journal article published within the last 5 years
• An authoritative website may be used in addition to the previous 4 sources (no wikipedia)

Refer to handout "Marine Ecosystem Paper" for assignment details.

Coral reefs

• Ecology of a group of organisms of your choice

                  Corals
                  Fish
                  Crown of thorns starfish
                  Sea cucumbers
                  Stomatopods (Mantis shrimp)
                  Cleaner fish / cleaner shrimp
                  Garden eels
                  Sea snakes

• Coral bleaching
• Blast fishing and other destructive practices
• Effects of aquarium trade on reefs
• Paleontological history of reefs and other types of reef builders
• Any other topic of your choice related to coral reefs

Open ocean or coastal ocean (upper ocean pelagic regions)

• Ecology of a group of organisms of your choice

                  Giant squid
                  Whales and dolphins
                  Epifauna on whales (barnacles and other hitchhikers and parasites)
                  Tuna or other large predatory fish
                  Any planktonic group
                        Salps (sea squirt relatives) and hyperiid amphipods
                        Copepods
                        Krill
                        Bubble snails and pteropods (also a group of planktonic snails)

• Ecology of communities associated with drifting seaweed (e.g., sargassum)
• Fisheries and impacts of fisheries

                  “Ghost nets” (lost nets that keep catching animals)
                   Importance of marine reserves
                   Fisheries regulation and management
                        National
                        International

• Any other topic of your choice related to the open ocean or coastal ocean

Coastal ocean (benthic intertidal habitats)

• Ecology of a group of organisms of your choice

                  Cnidarians “clone wars”
                  Sea palms
                  Mollusk California mussels

• Intertidal Zonation
• Introduced Species
• Camouflage in the intertidal
• Competition for space
• Adaptations to exposure
• Any other topic of your choice related to the coastal intertidal

Coastal ocean (benthic subtidal regions)

• Ecology of a group of organisms of your choice

               Echinoderms
               Mollusk (sessile like mussels or mobile like scallops
               Annelids

• Ecology of communities associated with attached seaweeds or plants
• Fisheries and impacts of fisheries

                 “weighted trawls” (bulldozing the benthos)
                  Importance of marine reserves
                  Fisheries regulation and management
                       National
                       International

• Any other topic of your choice related to the benthos of the coastal ocean

Kelp Forests

• Ecology of a group of organisms of your choice

                  Echinoderms
                  Mollusk
                  Annelids
                  Kelp
                  fish

• Ecology of communities associated with attached seaweeds or plants

• The relationships between kelp forest and otters

                  contemporary and or historic approach

• Fisheries and impacts of fisheries

                  the effects on the kelp forest of predatory fish loss
                   the removal of top predators

• The effects of global climate change on the kelp forest communities
• Pollution and its roll in urchin outbreaks
• Any other topic of your choice related to the Kelp Forest

Deep sea (abyssal plains and deep pelagic regions)

• Ecology of a group of organisms of your choice

                  Any benthic invertebrate group
                        Brachiopods
                        Deep-sea clams (carnivores and deposit feeders)
                        Monoplacophorans – “living fossils,” rediscovered in 1954
                        Wood boring clams
                  Any deep pelagic invertebrate group
                        Nautilus
                        Giant squid
                   Deep sea fish
                   Hag fish
                   Coelocanths – also “living fossils”

• Deep sea disposal (dredged material, sewage, radioactive waste)
• Deep sea exploration and research

                  Deep Sea Drilling Program
                  Alvin and other research submersibles
                  ROVs

• Any other topic of your choice related to the muddy bottom deep sea and deep pelagic regions

Hydrothermal vents

• Ecology of a group of organisms of your choice

                  Pogonophorans
                  Giant clams
                  Limpets
                  Mussels
                  Worms
                  Crabs and shrimp

• Microbiology (bacteria and archea) of vent communities
• Symbiosis at vents
• Vent environments as possible environments for the origin of life on earth
• Comparison of vents and “vent-like” environments

                  Dead whales
                  Oil seeps
                  Methane seeps
                  Brine seeps

• Any other topic of your choice related to vents

Antarctic coastal ocean or Arctic marine ecosystem

• Ecology of a group of organisms of your choice

                  Krill
                  Penguins
                  Whales
                  Seals
                  Giant invertebrates (some species that are very small in shallow, temperate and tropical
                     waters have relatives that are very large in Antarctica waters & in the deep sea)
                  Ivory gulls

• Antarctic upwelling and high productivity
• Fishes with “anti-freeze” in their blood
• Ecology of communities associated with the underside of sea ice
• Any other topic of your choice related to the Antarctic coastal ocean or the Arctic marine system

Estuaries (use San Francisco Bay as an example)

• Ecology of a group of organisms of your choice
• Introduced species / invasive species
• Ecology of salt marshes
• Ecology of seagrass communities
• Ecology of rocky intertidal communities
• Comparison of the ecology of planktonic communities in South SF Bay & North SF Bay
• Ecology of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
• Fisheries – commercial and sport
• Fisheries regulation and management
• Human impacts

               Dredging
               Pollution
                     Industrial
                     Agricultural
                     Sewage

• History of SF Bay, its marine communities and the humans living around the Bay over the last 18,000 years
• Any other topic of your choice related to SF Bay or the coastline between Monterey and Bodega Bay

               Sea lions
               Otters
               Kelp forest communities