Marine Biology Community Profile Project- Research Paper

Description

Local Marine Community Research Project Guidelines MRSC A180 (Marine Biology) General Information : It is important for all marine biology students to be ato apply what they have learned to the context of their local marine environment. However, there is not enough time during a lecture course to specifically focus on all of the organisms that compri se local marine communities. Therefore, you will be responsible for putting together a semester – long research project about a local marine community found at one particular location in California (or relatively close to California) . The project will includ e a formal written profile that will be submitted the in the last few week s of class (please see syllabus) . Project Details: The goal for this project will be to learn about one specific local marine community and investigate its characteristics and com munity dynamics in detail. You will need to include the following themes in your research:  General community characteristics as well as physical and biological factors that influence your community ;  Community structure which includes important ecological information and the role of vital marine organisms found in that community (you should specifically focus on at least 4 species of different phyla and profile their niche and individual natural histor ies ) ;  Environmental challenges that organisms in your community currently face (be specific);  What laws, regulations, agencies or organizations are trying to protect or research this community locally;  What do you think should be done to better conserve and protect this community? Research Paper Requirements: Your research paper should be at least 6 – pages in length and must be double spaced using normal fonts and margins. However, remember that your grade is based primarily from the quality of your research and writing, not the length . J ust completing the length requirement does not guarantee you a good grade on this paper; it is just the minimum requirement. To get a good grade, you r community profile must also address all of the requirements listed above, be factually accurate and well – wri tten, and be properly referenced (including in – text references and a bibliography that you used to find your information ) . You are welcome to use figures, but those figures should not count towards your overall page length, they all must be numbered and pr operly captioned, and each figure should be referred to within the text. Each student will need to upload it to Canvas which uses TurnItIn.com to create an originality score to avoid plagiarism . ( Significant p oint re ductions may occur if the originality score in dicates material has been taken from other sources improperly . If you have any questions, please ask me about it. ) I recommend starting with a general internet search, but you will likely need to contact / visit a local aquarium or consult an organization that work s with your community to learn about some of the local challenges and conservation plans. Please make sure to properly cite any sources that you use (summarize and relate referenced information; don’t quote ) . Example Topics: You should research one type of community in the ocean that is detailed in Ch apters 13 – 18 in our textbook. Common examples include intertidal, sandy beach, rocky reef, estuary, open ocean, and muddy seafloor communities, but may also include hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, whale falls or fouling communities. In addition to selecting a community, you also need to select a particular local (or at least nearby) area so that you can be specific with local challenges and conservation options. This combination will also ensure that each student has a different topic (for example, there may be two students doing estuaries, but their research projects will be different because one is focusing on Upper Ne wport Bay and the other on Bolsa Chica). If you have any questions on specific presentation details or where you may be able to find information for your presentation, feel free to ask me.