Guia docente 2023_24 Facultad de Ciencias del Mar

Contents

Topic	Sub-topic
Introduction	Pelagic ecosystems and their interactions with hydrodynamics. Key functional groups in the plankton. Production and fate of organic matter.
Physical-biological coupling in pelagic ecosystems	Scales of variability in the interaction between physical and biological processes: mixing and stratification, internal waves, frontal systems, sub- and meso-scale structures.
Plankton size structure: ecological and biogeochemical implications	Size-dependence of phytoplankton abundance, biomass and metabolism. Plankton size spectra. Environmental and ecological control of size structure.
Trophic analysis of pelagic ecosystems	Pelagic food webs. Bacteria-phytoplankton coupling. Grazing and mixotrophy. Structure of planktonic communities and biogeochemical circulation.
The role of pelagic ecosystems in global biogeochemical cycles.	Controlling factors of primary production. Processes and patterns of ocean nutrient limitation. The spring bloom: underlying mechanisms. The biological pump and the global carbon cycle.
Regional oceanography: the upwelling system of NW Iberian peninsula	Ecological and biogeochemical impact of the Galician upwelling. Links between size structure and metabolic balance in Ría de Vigo. Irradiance and nutrients as controlling factors of phytoplankton growth. Responses of microbial plankton to global change processes.