COURSES

Goals

The aim of the course is to prepare a student for research work in the field of stress response in the marine environment. Competences: Selection and planning appropriate approaches to solving environmental problems in the marine environment. Creation of scenarios due to the consequences of pollution for marine organisms, communities and the marine environment. Selection of appropriate methodologies to measure the harmful effects of pollution (stress) on marine organisms and communities Development of new techniques and approaches for evaluation the stress in the marine environment. Planning and coordinating teamwork with experts from various disciplines.

Curriculum

Introduction to estuarine and coastal marine ecosystem. Human influences on the coastal zones and resource use, environmental indicators and DPSIR framework. Marine pollution and coastal water quality (sources and impacts of pollution, monitoring). Understanding the ecological stress evoked in marine organisms by different environmental factors and its meaning for individual, population, species level. Introduction to main stress-induced mechanisms at cellular level due to abiotic stress factors (heat, cold, salinity, hypoxia, drought) in marine organisms (e.g. mollusc and fish; important in human consumption). Toxic substances as stress factors and response at molecular level in marine organisms. Genetically dependent response to stress (microevolution, resistance and tolerance to toxic substances). Field work: Practical work on field to collect and record data on physico-chemical parameters, collection of organisms of interest, morphology and adaptations in mussels as model organism. The impact of pollution on microorganisms from coastal marine and estuarine ecosystems. Understanding the response of marine microbial communities to environmental perturbations,and different contaminants,and consequent impacts on the biogeochemical cycles in the coastal marine environments.