UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS
B.Sc. DEGREE COURSE IN MARINE SCIENCE
SEMESTER SYSTEM WITH CREDITS
(Effective from the Academic Year 2003-2004)

SYLLABUS

Semester II - Paper II - Biology Oceanography

Duration of Examination: 3 hrs
Maximum Marks: 100
Credits: 4

UNIT I

Sea as a biological environment - Plankton, classification of plankton based on size, mode of life and habitat.

Unit II

Phytoplankton and zooplankton - methods of collection, estimation of standing crop, wet and dry weight estimations, plankton volume, settling and displacement methods.

Adaptations of plankton through structural (weight, increase of surface area, flotation) and physiological mechanisms (specific gravity, water content, fat content, mono and divalent ions, gas defensive vacuoles)

Unit III

Organic production - primary and secondary productions, methods of estimation of primary production, factors affecting primary production, regional differences production (in primary and secondary), red tide phenomenon - its causes and effects.

Phytoplankton and zooplankton interrelations.

Unit IV

Sea weeds - occurrence and distribution in India, economic importance.

Sea grasses - morphological and anatomical adaptations, ecological role.

Unit V

Mangroves and salt marshes - distribution - adaptations (morphological, anatomical and physiological), ecological role, uses, need for conservation.

Books Recommended:

Plankton and Productivity in the Oceans by J.E.G. Raymont, Pergamon Press, 1973.

Phytoplankton by A.D. Boney, Edward, Arnold, London, 1975.

Marine Botany: An Introduction, Hole Reinhart and Winston Inc., New York, 1966.

The Oceans - their Physics, Chemistry and General Biology by H.U. Svedrup, MW.Johnson and R.H. Fleming, Prentice-Hall Inc., New Jersey, 1959.

Marine Botany by J.D Clinton, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1988.