Phytoplankton Ecology

EFB 797, Section 07, Spring 2007

Instructor: Kimberly L. Schulz

Tuesdays 12:50-1:50 PM; Illick 127

 
Office Hours: Mondays 8-9 AM; Thursdays 1-2 PM (456 Illick)

Contact Information: 456 Illick; 470-6808; kschulz@syr.edu

Course Website: http://www.esf.edu/efb/schulz/PhytoEcol2007.html

 Textbook: Reynolds, Colin. 2006. Ecology of Phytoplankton. Cambridge University Press.
535 pp.  Available at Follett’s Orange Bookstore in Marshall Square Mall

 Goals of course/overview:

In this graduate seminar we will learn about the ecology of phytoplankton, the dominant primary producers in lakes and oceans.  During most of the class we will read Colin Reynold’s new text, Ecology of Phytoplankton.  Students will lead most of these classes, which should include a review of the topic and discussion (see below for more details).  During the last few weeks of class we will talk a bit about periphyton (those poor algae stuck on surfaces J ) and about how to culture algae.  We’ll have one class that we vote on the topic/activity, and we’ll wrap up with a final discussion about all we’ve learned.

DATE
 TOPIC
 READING
 LEADER(S)
16 January
 Introduction to class
 Syllabus
 Schulz
23 January
 Phytoplankton background  questions     handout
 Chapter 1
 Schulz
30 January
 Entrainment and distribution in the pelagic questions    handout    ppt 
Chapter 2
 John Bisgrove/Paul Simonin
6 February
 NO CLASS
 NO CLASS
 NO CLASS
13 February
 Photosynthesis and carbon acquisition    questions       handout
 Chapter 3
 Adam Effler/Jake Gillete
20 February
 Nutrient uptake and assimilation     questions     handout
 Chapter 4
 Jacob Milea
27 February
 Growth and replication   questions     handout        
Chapter 5
 Margaret Pavlac/Juliette Smith
6 March
 Mortality and loss
(vote on class topic for 17 April)   questions   discussion     handout
 Chapter 6
 Kevin Kapuncinski/Katie Woodside
13 March
 NO CLASS
 SPRING BREAK
20 March
 Species composition and temporal change    questions    handout     PEG Summary                
Chapter 7; pp. 302-351
 Stephanie Johnson/David Kalenak
27 March
 Assembly processes in the plankton      handout
 Chapter 7; pp. 351-386
 Debra Joseph/Jen Liberatore
3 April
 Aquatic ecosystems: mechanisms and management   handout         
Chapter 8
 Lucas Kirby/Cheryl Whritenour
10 April
 Periphyton    readings from Periphyton book handed out in class
 Excerpts/ Handout
 Schulz
17 April
 Phytoplankton Democracy
(Group vote on 6 March): Show and tell/ Field trip/ Eminent phycologists/ Your suggestion
Group
23 April
 Algal culture techniques          Phytoplankton Culture Techniques
 Excerpts/ Handout Schulz
1 May
 Final discussion/ Wrap up     Questions
 List of questions
 Schulz

Student Responsibilities

Your responsibilities in this class are:

 

Discussion Leader Responsibilities

 

Some Good Phycological Resources:

The Phycological Society of America (PSA) - http://www.psaalgae.org/default.htm
The Journal of Phycology - http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/jpy  (published by PSA)
International Phycological Society - http://www.intphycsoc.org/ (publishes Phycologia)
British Phycological Society - http://www.brphycsoc.org/journal.lasso (publishes the European
            Journal of Phycology)
International Association for Diatom Research - http://www.isdr.org/
Phycological Research (journal link) - http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/toc/pre
Harmful Algae (journal link) -
 http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622278/description#description
Harmful Algae News - http://ioc.unesco.org/hab/news.htm
Plankton net - http://planktonnet.sb-roscoff.fr/portal.php?pagetitle=index
NOAA harmful algae page - http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/
Smithsonian - http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/projects/algae/
Algaebase - http://www.algaebase.org/
Compilation of culture collection webpages - http://wdcm.nig.ac.jp/hpcc.html


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