Educational guide 2026_27 Facultade de Ciencias do Mar

Máster Universitario en Oceanografía

Contents

Topic	Sub-topic
SUBJECT 1.	Introduction and reflections to start with a course of global change. Ecological footprint and index of human development. Concept and aims of sustainable development.
SUBJECT 2.	Scales of natural and anthropogenic variability: An approach across different temporal and spatial scales. Interdecadal trends in primary production
SUBJECT 3.	Multiple factors of stress: Temperature, stratification and nutrients. Interactive effects: experimental approximations and observations of field.
SUBJECT 4	Effects of ozone layer depletion and increased UV radiation on marine ecosystems. The ozone cycle. Penetration of UV radiation in aquatic environments. Photodegradation and photoinhibition. Direct and indirect effects of UV radiation on marine organisms.
SUBJECT 5.	Impacts of global change on the ocean carbon cycle. Ocean acidification and coastal acidification. Effects of increasing CO2; concentrations on marine organisms and ecosystems. Blue carbon: CO2; capture and sequestration in different marine ecosystems, including seagrass meadows, salt marshes, mangroves, and planktonic systems.
SUBJECT 6.	Impacts of global change on ocean biogeochemical cycles (O, N, P, Fe). Eutrophication: coastal and atmospheric inputs. Harmful algal blooms and massive proliferations of toxic phytoplankton.
SUBJECT 7.	Impacts of global change on planktonic communities. Community responses to global change. Changes in the diversity, distribution, and abundance of key functional groups: bacteria, phytoplankton, and zooplankton.
SUBJECT 8.	Impacts of global change on pelagic food webs. Changes in the biomass of primary producers and consumers. Changes in trophic transfer efficiency within food webs.
SUBJECT 9.	Fisheries overexploitation. Measures of sustainability. Global status of fishery resources. Effects of climate change on fisheries. Top-down effects in marine ecosystems.