AB-821 Ecology of Arctic Marine Benthos (10 ECTS)
ID:
AB-821
CREDITS:
10 ECTS
APPLICATION DEADLINE:
March 01, 2025
START DATE:
August 11, 2025
END DATE:
September 19, 2025
COURSE PERIOD:
Autumn semester (August - September), every second year. Teaching block 5
AB-321/821 onboard R/V Helmer Hanssen. Photo: Fredrik Broms/Akvaplan-niva
| Grade: | Letter grade (A through F) |
| Course Cost: | Fieldwork, ca. NOK 2000 (10 days x NOK 200 per overnight stay) |
| Course Capacity Min/Max: | 9/18 students (AB-321/821 in total) |
| Language of instruction: | English |
| Examination support material: | Bilingual dictionary between English and mother tongue |
Contact person
Course requirements
Enrolment in a relevant PhD programme.
Academic content
The students will gain insight into the taxonomy, biogeography and ecology of the main benthic species in Svalbard waters and the polar basin North of Svalbard. The course has a special emphasis on hands-on identification of benthos as well as processes important for understanding the Arctic marine ecosystem.
Lectures deal with identification of benthic species, life history and functional traits, trophic interactions and physical forcing. The practical field work will be designed by the teachers, with input from students enrolled in AB-821, and implemented into the course. Work during cruises will focus on several research projects that integrate acquired knowledge and skills, and will vary from year to year, targeting specific habitats or ecological processes.
Learning outcomes
Upon completing the course, the students will:
Knowledge
- understand benthic biodiversity patterns and ecological interactions characteristic of high Arctic ecosystems
- have command over the taxonomy, biogeography and ecology of the main benthic species in Svalbard waters and the polar basin north of Svalbard.
- In addition, AB-821 students will be responsible for extended readings and assessment that provide both greater breadth and depth in Arctic benthic ecology across the Arctic.
Skills
- be able to identify common Arctic marine benthic species
- understand strengths and weaknesses of common benthic sampling techniques,
- formulate hypotheses, design sampling plans, and be competent at working alone and in collaborative groups
- display advanced competence in graphical presentation of data, and synthesize of theory and empirical data into a final presentation of research results
General competences
- have acquired practical experience relating field data to scientific contexts
- apply basic and advanced statistical analyses to data they have collected
- interpret data to evaluate scientific hypotheses in the context of ecological theory.
- The students will also assess benthic systems in Svalbard waters in a pan-Arctic context.
Learning activities
The course extends over 6 weeks, including compulsory safety training, and is run in combination with AB-321. AB-821 runs one more week after the completion of AB-321.
A one-week theoretical introduction and preparation of field activities will be followed by a 10- day research cruise. During this cruise, sampling will be conducted in different localities around Svalbard (fjord and off-shelf). The last part of the course (around 3 weeks) will contain 2 weeks of lab exercises focused on species identification and other relevant analysis of the collected material on which a final written report will be submitted.The last week of the PhD course is dedicated to preparing a scientific report based on the data from the cruise, and may include seminars on data analysis and presentation, and report writing. Depending on the number of PhD students enrolled, this last week may be conducted as home-study (i.e. not required to be in Svalbard), as determined by the instructor.
Summary
- Total lecture hours: 20 hours.
- Laboratory/exercises/seminars: 25 hours.
- Scientific cruise: 10 days.
Compulsory learning activities
All compulsory learning activities must be approved in order to sit the exam.
- Field excursions
- Laboratory work
- Scientific writing
- One oral presentation
Assessment
- All assessments must be passed in order to pass the course.
- Each assessment is graded, and subsequently combined into a single grade. Partial grades for each assessment will be available.
| Method | Duration |
Percentage of final grade
|
| Written exam | 5 hours | 35% |
| Practical exam | 3 hours | 30% |
| Final project report (written) | 35% |
Student life
