W
University of Washington
 

FISH&ENVIR 330 for Spring 2012

FISH / ENVIR 330
Climate Change Impacts on Marine Ecosystems
http://courses.washington.edu/fish330/

Open to all majors. Fulfills upper division science requirement for OCEAN majors.

Instructor: Nate Mantua http://fish.washington.edu/people/mantua/


Summary
This course provides an in-depth introduction to the role of large-scale to local-scale climate processes as agents of change and structure in marine ecosystems. Students will explore the fundamental physical processes linking changes in the ocean with changes in ecosystems. Once a foundation for understanding the biophysical impacts of climate variations is set, lectures will focus on the impacts of large-scale patterns of climate variability and climate change--including the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, and human-caused global warming--on marine ecosystems. While the primary focus of the course will be climate impacts on ecosystems, students will also learn the basics of human-caused ocean acidification and its projected impacts on marine ecosystems. Case studies focused on tropical, temperate, upwelling, sub-arctic, and polar marine ecosystems will allow students to apply their understanding for fundamental processes of biophysical interactions to present-day concerns about future climate change impacts on marine ecosystems. Daily ecology vignettes will present a 5 -10 minute overview of the life history of a different marine animal so that by the end of the quarter students will have a collection of material describing a range of habitat requirements and sensitivities for different species that will enrich their understanding of the ecosystem case studies.

Requirements
All students must enroll in the lecture and lab/discussion section for 5-credits. All students should be comfortable with the basic concepts and symbolism of calculus, and should have taken at least an introductory high school physics course yielding familiarity with Newton's Laws and be able to comprehend and construct vector diagrams. Students should be comfortable using computers and analysis software like Matlab and/or Excel.