Τμήμα Ωκεανογραφίας και Θαλασσίων Βιοεπιστημών

Icon-facebook Youtube
Applied Marine Ecology
School:
Of the Environment
Academic Unit:
Department of Marine Sciences
Level of studies:
Postgraduate
Course Code:
Semester:
Β
Course Title:
Applied Marine Ecology
Independent Teaching Activities
Lectures and Lab
Weekly Teaching Hours
3
Credits
4
Course Type:
Special background
Prerequisite Courses:
No
Language of Instruction and Examinations:
Greek
Is the course offered to Erasmus students:
No
  • (2) Learning Outcomes
  • Learning Outcomes

After the successful completion of the course, students should be able to:

  • Understand the principles of ecological monitoring and state variables
    Understand and apply the basic principles of sampling design for the estimation of the state of a population/biocommunity/ecosystem
  • Understand the issue of detectability in the marine environment and apply the proper methods to adequately address it
  • Understand and apply in ecological studies the most common methods of ecological monitoring such as counts in fixed surfaces, distance sampling, mark-recapture, removal methods, repetitive recording of presence/absence
  • Know the most appropriate methods of ecological monitoring for each of the main groups of marine species
  • Use special software for the analysis of ecological monitoring data
  • Use this software in environmental impact assessments, monitoring studies in marine protected areas, the implementation of European legislation (Habitats Directive, Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Marine Spatial Planning Directive etc) and in marine research
  • Analyze real ecological monitoring data and drafting ecological studies
  • Communicate and disseminate the results of ecological monitoring studies
  • General Competences
  • Search for, analysis and synthesis of data and information, with the use of the necessary technology
  • Working independently
  • Sampling design and project management
  • Production of creative and inductive thinking
  • (3) Syllabus

The course includes the following topics:

  • Methods of ecological monitoring – State Variables – Methods of abundance estimation – Assessment of detectability – methods for visual surveys in the marine environment.
  • Abundance Estimation with Distance Sampling methods – Applications in the marine environment – Detectability estimation – Using the DISTANCE software for the analysis of distance sampling data.
  • Capture-recapture methods for closed and open populations (Petersen, Schnabel, Jolly Sever) – Applications in the marine environment.
  • Removal methods (change-ratio, Eberhardt, Capture-Effort) – Applications in the marine environment.
  • Presence-absence data – Estimation of probability of presence (occupancy) – Occupancy models – Using PRESENCE software.
  • Methods for analyzing photographic samples of hard substrata – Using PhotoQuad software.
  • (4) Teaching and Learning Methods - Evaluation
  • Delivery:

Face-to-face and Distance learning

  • Use of Information and Communication Technology:
  • PC lab on the use of special software (DISTANCE, PRESENCE, MARXAN) and Excel spreadsheets
  • Use of ICT in teaching (PowerPoint presentations)
  • Communication with the students through the online platform eclass
  • Uploading of lecture slides and other educational material on eclass
  • Teaching Methods:
Activity Semester workload
Lectures
20
Laboratory exercises
20
Homework
30
Independent study
40
Final exam
3
Course total
113
  • Student Performance Evaluation:
  • Lab exercises contribute to the final mark by 60%, The criteria for evaluation are: methological sufficiency 50%, correctness of results 30%, quality of report: 20%
  • The final exam contributes to the final mark by 40% – it consists of multiple choice questions.
  • Students with learning difficulties are tested orally
  • Language of evaluation: Greek
  • (5) Attached Bibliography

Suggested bibliography:

  • Katsanevakis S, Issaris, Kolovogiannis V, 2016. Applied Marine Ecology: Ecological Monitoring. Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean [in greek]
  • Krebs CJ, 1999. Ecological Methodology, 2nd edition, Addison-Wesley-Longman.
  • Katsanevakis S, Weber A, Pipitone C, Leopold M, Cronin M, Scheidat M, Doyle TK, Buhl-Mortensen L, Buhl-Mortensen P, D’Anna G, de Boois I, Dalpadado P, Damalas D, Fiorentino F, Garofalo G, Maximiliano Giacalone VM, Hawley KL, Issaris Y, Jansen J, Knight CM, Knittweis L, Kroncke I, Mirto S, Muxika I, Reiss H, Skjoldal HR, Voge S, 2012. Monitoring marine populations and communities: review of methods and tools dealing with imperfect detectability. Aquatic Biology 16: 31-52.