autumn 2017 BIO-8020 Arctic Marine System Ecology and Climate Change - 10 ECTS
Admission requirements
PhD students or holders of a Norwegian master´s degree of five years or 3+ 2 years (or equivalent) may be admitted. PhD students must upload a document from their university stating that there are registered PhD students. This group of applicants does not have to prove English proficiency and are exempt from semester fee.
Holders of a Master´s degree must upload a Master´s Diploma with Diploma Supplement / English translation of the diploma. Applicants from listed countries must document proficiency in English. To find out if this applies to you see the following list:
Proficiency in English must be documented - list of countries
For more information on accepted English proficiency tests and scores, as well as exemptions from the English proficiency tests, please see the following document:
Proficiency in english - PhD level studies
Maximum 24 participants.
If more than 24 applicants, priority will be given as follows:
- Participants admitted to the PhD programme at UiT
- Participants in the Associate Professor programme (Førstelektorprogrammet)
- PhD candidates from other universities
- People with a minimum of a Masters degree (or equivalent), who have not been admitted to a PhD programme
PhD students at UiT register for the course through StudentWeb. The registration for autumn semester starts in the middle of June. Other applicants apply for admission through SøknadsWeb. Application code 9304. Contact Ingjerd Gauslaa Nilsen at the BFE-faculty if you have troubles or questions regarding registration to the course.
Course content
The course provides an introduction to marine system ecology and climate change in the Arctic Ocean. It describes the physics of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas, for both water and ice, and how climate change alters them. The course introduces important key organisms, life history strategies, habitats and ecosystems of the Arctic Ocean. Coupling between organisms and habitats are discussed with respect to organisms and energy flow, and also how physical processes determine the preconditions for species and productivity, today and in the near future. An important aspect is how anthropogenic impact and management influence arctic marine systems. Students will be introduced to a wide range of examples on system ecological response to climate change in the Arctic Ocean, ranging from microbial organisms to fish, including biogeochemical cycles.Objectives of the course
The course builds knowledge on:
- The concept of marine systems ecology
- Physical oceanography, climate and different regions of the Arctic
- Physical and chemical forcing of ecosystems
- Arctic key organisms, their life history strategies and habitats
- How species, processes and habitats are coupled in Arctic systems
- Structure and energy flow in ecosystems, including role of parasites
- The importance of time scales in studies of ecosystems, animal behaviour, and biogeochemical cycles
- Ecological consequences of climate change
- Marine pollution and ocean acidification in an ecological context
- Anthropogenic impact and management of arctic ecosystems
Skills:
- In-depth understanding of the concept system ecology
- Ability to understand how physical and chemical forcing impacts arctic marine ecosystems
- A thorough understanding of the impact of climate change in the Arctic
- Understanding of ecosystem processes in the Arctic Ocean
- Understand how changes on one level affect the ecosystem
- Understand of the role of ice in marine ecosystems
- Understand the role of time-scales for driving forces, organisms, ecosystems and processes
After the course the students should have general competence in:
- How changes in one component of the ecosystem or driving forces influence the ecosystem as a whole
- How ecosystem knowledge can be built by combining information from single studies of separate compartments and their couplings
- Skills in reading and presenting research papers
- Ability to evaluate and discuss a broad range of scientific topics related to the Arctic marine environment
- The dynamics and processes of arctic marine ecosystems
- Principles of knowledge-based resource management
- How climate and anthropogenic impact can influence Arctic marine ecosystems
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- About the course
- Campus: Tromsø |
- ECTS: 10
- Course code: BIO-8020
- Responsible unit
- Institutt for arktisk og marin biologi