• General course information
• Course material and lecture notes
• Syllabus -- Time table of lectures
• Examination and grading information
• Instructor's web site
• Information on FIU Biscayne Bay Campus

General Course Information

OCB4990 - Marine Microbial Ecology (undergrad.) - Section 51 - Credits: 3
OCB6990 - Advanced Marine Microbial Ecology (grad.) - Section 51 - Credits: 3

OCB4990 "Marine Microbial Ecology" and OCB6990 "Advanced Marine Microbial Ecology (for graduate students): Diversity, ecology, and physiology of marine viruses, bacteria and protozoa, their role in marine microbial food webs and the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nutrients, and the significance of microbial food webs for marine productivity. Prerequisites for OCB3993: BSC1010 General Bio I, BSC1011 General Bio II, OCB3043 Marine Biology and Oceanography; Prerequisites for OCB6993: Graduate student status, OCB3043 Marine Biology and Oceanography or equivalent pre-education.

Time and Location: Tuesday, Thursday, 14:00 - 15:15. Class room: AC-1 room 228 at Biscayne Bay Campus

Textbook: Y.I. Sorokin, Aquatic Microbial Ecology. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. 1999. ISBN 90-5782-027-7; Paperback, 248 pp. $71.00. Additional teaching material from original literature will be provided to students. Course information and lecture notes will be posted on this web site.

Contact: Office: AC-1 Room 379; Phone: (305) 919 5882; e-mail: frank@jochem.net
Office hours: Wednesdays, 10:30 to 12:00 a.m. or by appointment (use preferably e-mail). Office hours are intended solely for discussion of academic material.

Significance of Course: Research over the last two decades has revealed the important role of microbial food webs in the food web interaction and biogeochemical nutrient cycling in pelagic systems particularly in both coastal and offshore tropical and subtropical ocean such as surrounding Florida. The recognition of the importance of bacteria and protozoa in water-column processes has profoundly changed our perception of planktonic food webs. The study of marine water-column microbes has become a crucial aspect of modern plankton and biogeochemical research.
This course addresses the diversity, ecology and physiology of bacteria and marine protozoa. It will also address interactions and biogeochemical element cycles within the microbial food web consisting of bacteria, protozoa and phytoplankton, the effects of microbial food web interactions and element cycling on higher trophic levels and water-column productivity, the role of dissolved organic matter and its microbial utilization (concept of the "microbial loop"), and the role of viruses in the marine carbon cycle and as controlling factors of bacterial and phytoplankton production. The course will not address the role of bacteria as pathogens for humans or other marine animals.