NES8500 : Understanding Marine Ecosystems
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Professor Pip Moore
- Lecturer: Dr Sarah Coulthard, Dr Miguel Morales Maqueda, Dr William Reid, Dr James Guest
- Other Staff: Mr Ryan Woodward
- Owning School: Natural and Environmental Sciences
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
To provide an advanced understanding of the major biological, ecological, socio-ecological, and physical processes leading to human impacts on productive and healthy marine ecosystems.
A rare mix of ecology, socio-ecology and oceanography with case studies and principles of ecosystem functioning and management. The module provides a unique background to the scientific understanding and management issues surrounding the most human-impacted areas of the planet.
Outline Of Syllabus
Seminars: Scientific process, advocacy and approaches to gathering evidence. Drivers of heterogeneity in primary production in the oceans. Effects of ocean physics on particular systems. Population and community ecology. Alternate states, role of biodiversity in ecosystem resistance and resilience. Climate change and environmental impacts on temperate reefs. Concepts of ecosystem management and ecosystem services. Socio-ecological principles. Ecosystem restoration: concepts, strengths and pitfalls. Deep-sea ecosystems.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 75:00 | 75:00 | Review paper prepartion |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 15:00 | 15:00 | Planning exercise for presentations |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 50:00 | 50:00 | Literature searching, project scoping and guided reading |
| Structured Guided Learning | Academic skills activities | 2 | 1:00 | 2:00 | Working through canvas materials to guide students through literature searches |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 17 | 3:00 | 51:00 | Seminars |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Presentation skills and scenario building |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Scheduled on-line contact time | 4 | 1:00 | 4:00 | Online drop in sessions to support review paper preparation |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Seminars will provide a range of information and access to further information sources on physical, biological and socially-relevant processes in the coastal zone. Seminars and tutorials will best allow students to reflect on environmental issues facing coastal populations, their problems, causes and potential solutions and the aspects that they wish to focus on for their projects (IKO1-3). Skills in literature research and communication will be built by a scientific literature review (ISO1-4), for which students will each select their own topic.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral Presentation | 20 | 1 | M | 30 | 20 minute team presentation plus 10 minutes for questions. |
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written exercise | 1 | M | 70 | Literature Review: Max 2500 words excluding figures, tables, references and appendices |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research paper | 1 | M | Formative feedback on literature review plan |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
Formative feedback will be given to students on development of project ideas and objectives. Criticism and summative assessment of the literature review will test each student's ability to: present a well-structured scientific report with good English usage, citation, referencing, and word processing, and appropriate illustration/tables; review of topic with fidelity, clarity of understanding and adequate scientific literature coverage; and show clarity and innovation of scientific argument. Electronic document submission will allow for originality assessment to be made. Students' ability to work in teams to prepare and present a on a topic related to marine management, negotiate and learn lessons from competing interests will be assessed by the role play exercises that are summatively assessed.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- NES8500's Timetable