Course description: this course is designed to provide the student with a solid foundation in ecological concepts, techniques and experimental design in field research as applied to coral reef ecosystems. It consists in one-week field based research at a marine research station around Taiwan. To have attended Ocean 5097 is strongly recommended for joining this course. Alternatively, solid knowledge on coral reefs and the environmental challenges they are currently facing is requested. The course will begin with a general introduction of the coral reefs and how they are influenced by global and local factors. It will quickly narrow down to the context of Taiwan by introducing the local context: known diversity, past disturbances, and current research. The major reef biota will be discussed in terms of their ecological requirements, roles on the reef and overall impact. Methods in ecological monitoring and sampling will be discussed and examined directly on the field and will serve as a baseline for a future long-term ecological assessment. Data analysis will consist in examining and comparing structure of benthic assemblages among sites and depths (basic knowledge on R software is recommended). Students are asked to provide a final report and a poster (electronic format) of their work a maximum one month after the last day on the field.


Additional information: a pre-course discussion on preparation for the field trip (3 hr) will be arranged early in the semester. Field course: during spring break week from April 2nd, 2017 (Monday) to April 6th, 2017 (Friday). Working hours: daily 9H00 – 17H00. Daily schedule (subject to changes): theoretical class in the morning and field preparation (9H00 – 12H00), field work in early afternoon (13H00-15H00) and sample (pictures) / data analysis in late afternoon (15H00-17H00).
There is a quota of 6 students for this course. This is an advanced course on coral reef ecology and students without a strong biological/ecological background will not be considered. Students wil