INSTRUCTOR:  Dr. Jeri Jewett-Smith, East Stroudsburg University of PA

I.  COURSE DESCRIPTION

Marine botany is the study of the primary producers of the ocean,  estuaries and terrestrial margins.  This includes phytoplankton, benthic macrophytes, salt marsh macrophytes, and other edge communities like salt flats, mangroves and dunes.  Also included are the endosymbiotic zooxanthellae of corals.  This course will be taught at several levels:  molecular, cellular, organismal, population, community and ecosystem.  Although taxonomy will be important, it is not the sole focus of the course.

The laboratory portion of this course will stress practical methods of measurement of the plants and their environment.  This includes the proper methods of voucher specimen preservation, basic physical and chemical methods of abiotic environment measurement, growth measurement, chlorophyll analysis and wet and dry weight determination.

A.  Introduce students to the subdisciplines of cellular, organismal, populational and community marine botany.
B.  Train students in basic techniques of ecological assessment:  for example - vegetational analysis, soil and water chemistry analysis.
C.  Make students aware of current trends/controversies in marine botany such as conservation biology, marine plant biotechnology, and protection of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV).
D.  Introduce students to the marine botanical literature in peer reviewed journals such as Aquatic Ecology, Phycology, Marine Ecology Progress Series and Estuaries.
E.  To introduce statistical methods appropriate for data gathering and analysis of ecological data.

A.  Lecture and Lab:  Dawes, C.J. 1998.  Marine Botany, 2nd Ed.
B.  Supplementary texts and other relevant references:  will be placed on reserve in the WIMSC library as needed during the course of the semester.

A.  Evaluation and Grading Policy:  Since this course integrates theory and technique between lecture and lab, the lecture exams will include material presented in the laboratory as well as the lecture, textbook and other assigned reading.

Grade Breakdown

Task	Points
Midterm and Final Exam (100 each)	200
Journal	75
Plant Collection (25 large + 25 small)	100
Participation (on time to class, prepared for field, attendance at lectures)	25
Total	400

Grading Scale

Letter Grade	% of total point range
A	90.0 - 100
B	80.0 - 89.9
C	70.0 - 79.9
D	60.0 - 69.9
E (or F)	59.9 or below

B.  Journal Grading criteria

1.  organization
2.  completeness of observational notes
3.  follow through data analysis
4.  annotated drawings
5.  index to contents:  journals should be started on the 4th or 5th page to allow for an index to be added to the front prior to turn-in.
6.  Acceptable notebook types: Only bound notebooks, such as the "write in rain" or composition book are acceptable.  Other types of journals (loose leaf, stapled, etc.) will not be graded.  The water proof variety is preferable:  if you use a non-water proof one, and it gets wet, you could loose all of your information.
7.  All lab and field notes are to be taken in your journal.  Do not take notes on one piece of paper and recopy into your journal.

C.  Plant Collection Grading criteria

1.  Information for each specimen:  correct identification, proper preservation, presentation of specimen, completeness of label information.  No credit will be given for specimens incorrectly identified.
2.  Composition of Collection

a.  The collection should consist of a minimum of 15 algal species, 2 seagrasses, and the remainder of native terrestrial plants.  Commercial or ornamental plants are not acceptable.
b.  Do not collect plants that you can not identify:  angiosperms should have fruits or flowers attached.
c.  Do not collect on private property or in state or national parks without permission.  If you are not sure, always ask.
d.  Do not collect threatened or endangered plants (find out what they are for the area you are collecting in).  Do not collect orchids, pitcher plants, sea oats or sundews.
e.  Take only what you need:  a specimen to press, one or part to dissect for identification.  If you collect as a group, never take more than 10% of a particular population.  Be kind to the environment and minimize your impact on a particular area . . . dunes and salt marshes can be eroded by pathways.
f.  The 25 large specimens must be different species.  There can be overlap with the 25 small specimens.  The large specimens will become part of the WIMSC permanent collection.  The 25 small will be your personal reference collection.
g.  Do not leave your collection to the last minute.  Wet, moldy specimens will be marked down.

D.  Exams

Exams will consist of a mixture of fill-in-the-blank, short answer and essay questions.  Make-up exams will consist of an oral exam of 20 questions and given only for a legitimate excuse (death of mother, father, sibling, offspring or spouse, or admission to the hospital - in other words, catastrophe).  Note:  you would be better off taking the scheduled exam.

E.  Field Trips

You must have proper attire for the field:  sturdy shoes that can get wet or wet suit booties.  Be prepared to wade, be out in the sun for several hours (hats, sun screen, water bottle, field notebook and pencil).  Field trip notes, as well as analyzed data from field trips will be organized in the journal.  Remember 75 out of 400 points (19%) of your grade is based upon you journal.  Be on time  and prepared for class, field and lab - 6% of your grade depends upon it.

VII: Lecture Outline Links (Under construction - links in color are active)

Marine plants & habitats	Human Impacts	Microalgae	Productivity
Abiotic Factors 1 & 2	Chlorophyta	Saltmarshes	Diversity
Biotic Factors	Ochrophyta	Seagrasses	Journal Article 1
Physiological Eco 1	Rhodophyta	Mangroves	Journal Article 2
Physiological Eco 2	Angiosperms	Coral Reefs	Journal Article 3

VIII. Study Guides
Exam 1
Exam 2
Practical
Journal Grading Rubric