Teaching plan for the course unit

 

 

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General information

 

Course unit name: Anthropogenic Impact on the Marine Environment

Course unit code: 365103

Academic year: 2022-2023

Coordinator: Raul Ramos Garcia

Department: Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences

Credits: 6

Single program: S

 

 

Estimated learning time

Total number of hours 150

 

Face-to-face and/or online activities

52.5

 

-  Lecture

Face-to-face

 

10

 

-  Lecture with practical component

Face-to-face

 

20

 

-  Laboratory session

Face-to-face

 

9

 

-  Special practices

Face-to-face

 

6

 

-  Field trip

Face-to-face

 

7.5

Supervised project

47.5

Independent learning

50

 

 

Recommendations

 

A good level of English is recommended.

 

 

Competences to be gained during study

 

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CB5 - Learning skills required to undertake further study with a high degree of autonomy

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CB4 - Capacity to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

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CB2 - Capacity to apply knowledge and understanding in a manner that indicates a professional approach to the work or vocation, and have competences typically demonstrated through devising and sustaining arguments and solving problems within the field of study.

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CB1 - Capacity to demonstrate knowledge and understanding in a field of study that builds upon general secondary education, and is typically at a level that, whilst supported by advanced textbooks, includes some aspects that will necessarily be informed by knowledge at the cutting edge of the field of study.

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CB3 - Ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within the field of study) to inform judgements that include reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues.

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CG6 - Ability to use and integrate information from different disciplines.

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CG5 - Ability to communicate fluently, both orally and in writing, in the University of Barcelona's official languages, as well as in at least one of the relevant field of study's dominant foreign languages.

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CG8 - Commitment to ethical practice in the professional, social and environmental arenas.

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CG7 - Creativity, initiative and ability to adapt to new situations.

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CG2 - Critical skills and capacity for self-criticism.

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CG1 - Ability to take responsibility for own learning, to learn independently and constantly, to set high standards for self and to establish achievable goals.

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CG4 - Ability to weigh up and use information effectively, and to apply ICTs to its management and analysis.

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CG3 - Ability to work responsibly in a team, negotiation and leadership skills, and capability to propose constructive solutions to potential conflicts.

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CE14 - Knowledge of the nature, rates and implications of lithosphere-sea and sea-atmosphere exchanges.

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CE21 - Ability to develop marine environment status indicators, validate them and critically apply them in monitoring and surveillance programmes.

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CE5 - Ability to identify the interrelationships between Marine Sciences and society, and to use the knowledge acquired to address society's demands, through administration bodies, companies and other organizations, locally, nationally and internationally.

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CE4 - Ability to contribute to training at different levels and to the spread of information regarding key aspects of the marine environment.

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CE7 - Ability to evaluate, process, display and interpret Marine Sciences data, and to apply, when appropriate, models and statistical techniques.

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CE23 - Collaborative skills, and ability to understand contributions from engineering and to incorporate them into approaches and solutions to problems in the Marine Sciences arena.

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CE1 - Ability to use and understand the lexicon and specific concepts of Marine Sciences and other related scientific fields, and to communicate them appropriately and with due rigour.

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CE3 - Ability to establish the outline of basic and applied Marine Sciences projects, and to contribute to defining the structure and composing the content of the scientific and technical reports to which they give rise.

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CE2 - Ability to apply good practices when working in the sea, in the field and in laboratories, and knowledge of work platforms' characteristics and their corresponding methodologies.

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CE16 - Ability to identify threatened marine species and habitats, to diagnose the causes of the threats involved, and to propose management and conservation measures, including protected marine areas.

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CE18 - Ability to participate in the evaluation of the direct and indirect impact of human activities on the marine environment, and to propose measures for its mitigation and correction.

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CE17 - Ability to detect the variability, on different scales of time, of the environmental conditions of the sea and its populations, and to identify its relationship with global change.

Learning objectives

 

Referring to knowledge

• Acquire an advanced knowledge of anthropogenic impact in the marine environment.

• Learn about the different types of impact and their effects.

• Understand the importance of sustainability.

• Master the bibliographical material and databases allowing the study of anthropogenic impact in the marine environment.

• Be able to prepare lists, carry out analyses and write reports on this given topic.

 

 

Teaching blocks

 

1. Anthropogenic impact in the marine environment: classes (1 h)

1.1. Global context of changes in the marine environment: causes and nature of main impacts

1.2. Coastal habitat loss

1.3. Habitat loss; changes in freshwater discharge and sediment transport in the marine environment

1.4. Habitat loss; offshore wind farms

1.5. Exploitation of the marine environment

1.6. Marine pollution: toxic chemicals

1.7. Marine pollution: marine debris and plastic pollution

1.8. Marine pollution: noise and light pollution

1.9. Marine pollution: mining and hydrocarbon exploration

1.10. Introduction to exotic species and diseases in marine organisms

2. Case studies: seminars (2 h)

2.1. Changes in sediment contributions to the coast, changes in coastal dynamics, responses to erosion and sediment accumulation, dredging and disposal

2.2. Regulation of marine resource exploitation and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

2.3. Trawling impact on the seabed and benthos

2.4. Management of fecal pollution in coastal waters

2.5. Mining and hydrocarbon prospecting

2.6. Impact of marine debris and plastic pollution: ingestion, entanglements, transport of exotic species

2.7. Noise pollution and maritime transport

2.8. Evaluation of the results from the field trip

2.9. Direct and indirect impact; indicators; impact studies and monitoring

2.10. impact on the poles (Arctic and Antarctica)

3. Case studies: laboratory (3 h)

3.1. Quality of coastal waters

3.2. Debates on offshore wind energy

3.3. Fishing debris and incidental catches related to fishing

3.4. Marine debris

3.5. Exotic species

4. Field trip (7.5 h)

4.1. Fishing harbour and beaches of Blanes

 

 

Teaching methods and general organization

 

Face-to-face hours are divided into 10 hours devoted to lectures (10 1-hour sessions), 20 hours devoted to case studies (10 2-hour seminars), 15 hours devoted to laboratory practical work (case studies) (5 3-hour sessions) and a field trip (7.5 h).

 

 

Official assessment of learning outcomes

 

Students are assessed on the acquisition of theory content and practical skills, as well as on attendance to lectures, seminars, laboratory sessions and the field trip. Procedure: the examination on theory and practical content is worth 60% of the final grade and it must be passed in order to pass the subject. Class attendance represents 10% of the final grade. Students complete continuous assessment activities throughout the course (via the Virtual Campus or in class), which are worth a maximum of 30% of the final grade. Repeat assessment consists of a new examination on theory and practical content worth 60% of the final grade. It must be passed to be eligible to pass the subject. The marks for class attendance (10%) and continuous assessment activities (30%) are kept for the repeat assessment.

 

Examination-based assessment

Students are entitled to take a single final examination provided that they request it within twenty days after the beginning of the course. Attendance at lectures, laboratory sessions and the field trip is compulsory.

 

 

Reading and study resources

Check availability in Cercabib

Article

Duarte, C. M., Agusti, S., Barbier, E., Britten, G. L., Castilla, J. C., Gattuso, J. P., ... & Worm, B. (2020). Rebuilding marine life. Nature580(7801), 39-51.

Jouffray, J. B., Blasiak, R., Norström, A. V., Österblom, H., & Nyström, M. (2020). The blue acceleration: the trajectory of human expansion into the ocean. One Earth2(1), 43-54.

Sardà, R., Pogutz S. (2019). Corporate sustainability in the 21st Century: increasing the resilience of social-economical systems. Routledge, Taylor & Francis group. London, UK.

Valiela, I. (2006). Global Coastal Change. Blackwell Publishing. MA, USA.

https://www.cbd.int