Syllabus
*
1. Introduction = what is zooplankton zooplankton habitats zooplankton groups ( x protozonas x fish) marine & freshwater *
2. Water - properties affecting zooplankton floating (how to do it) sedimentation (and how to avoid it) cyclomorphosis
3. Movement active x passive ways of moving/swimming morphological adaptations *
4. Zooplankton in trophic interactions filtration (mechanisms, different ways) food selectivity Filtering screens - adaptations to food quantity Zooplankton as predators, morphological adaptations *
5. Zooplankton as a prey predators, defense against predation kairomones, morphology, visibility, cyclomorphosis, behavior/ avoidance, escapes, DVM, variations in life strategies (trade-offs), diapause parasites and diseases *
6. Diurnal vertical migration (DVM) and other spatial distribution cues - predation, UV pigmentation horizontal distribution, scales, swarming *
7. Reproduction and ontogeny life cycles, parthenogeny, rotifers x cladocerand x ostracods life stages, cannibalism marine larvae reproductive strategies, hybridization ontogeny - rate of development, dependence *
8. Population dynamics - demography methods, calculations fecundity, natality, mortality, fitness.. regulations, seasonality, PEG model, marine pecularities *
9. Diapause and dispersion types, egg banks cosmopolitism local adaptations metapopulations genetic structure dispersion in an ocean *
10. Secondary productivity relation to PP how to measure j *
11. Zooplankton & paleolimnology *
12. Sampling end laboratory handling, cultivation samplers design fixation (what is for what) cultivation (rotifers, cladocerans) *
13. Zooplankton in taxonomical frame (just selection) Cladocera, Calanoids, Cyclopoids, Rotifers Some marine groups
Annotation
Lecture "Zooplankton ecology" gives deep information on ecology of freshwater and marine invertebrates, in respect to their keystone role in various water communities. The lecture aims to encompass a broad range of ecological interactions and various aspects of zooplankton life, from genetic variability and morphologic adaptations to its role in ecosystem energy flow and productivity. (Details in the syllabus).
The lecture is particularly for Ms. Degree students of ecology who focus on hydrobiology/limnology, though it may find an audience also among students of invertebrate biology.