Study Abroad Library

Marine Biology

Marine Ecosystems is an intensive, experiential systems-ecology course that covers a twelve-day timeframe and includes classroom, field and laboratory components. Taught within the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the course involves students in the exploration of coastal marine systems through biodiversity surveys, ecology table construction, habitat descriptions and development of inter-connectivity diagrams. Field and laboratory work is focused on the identification and niche descriptions of marine organisms of the western Caribbean, with ecology tables being compiled and refined during each lab session and after each snorkel. Lectures introduce broader concepts of composition, structure, function and dynamics of tropical marine ecosystems, from coastal zone systems (salt-wedge estuaries, brackish lagoons, mangal forests, grassbeds, coral reefs) to deep ocean benthic communities. The biological components of marine ecosystems within neuston, plankton, nekton and benthic communities, and the general ecological roles of key organisms are emphasized throughout lecture topics. Global perspectives of marine system ecology are discussed and polar, temperate and tropical Pacific systems compared to Caribbean marine ecosystems. Issues of human impact on marine ecosystems are critically examined, particularly within Belize, and possible solutions to these environmental abuses that we, as a global society, perpetuate are discussed. Ultimately this course promotes a greater awareness, understanding and respect for marine ecosystem and our individual and collective responsibility for the conservation of Earth's coastal zones, seas and oceans.