Species Interactions and Marine Food Webs - Experiments in Marine Food Web Ecology

The course will follow a 3-steps approach,whereby theory will be followed by a substantial pratical part according to the following scheme: 

Step 1 (preparatory phase): analysis of an actual research question, literature study and design of an experiment to answer the question put forward: correct formulation of
a research question and hypothesis, digital sources analysis, experimental design, selection of model organism and model system, obtaining biological material (field or
culture), critical interpretation of available protocols.

Step 2 (experimental phase): set-up of the experiment and application of up-to-date experimental facilities within the Belgian node of the European Marine Biological
Resource Centre () network (including culture collections): lab or field experiments, small-scale or large-scale, habitat-specificity of an experiment (intertidal, subtidal, deep
sea, soft or hard substrate, benthic or pelagic, …), planning and feasibility and risk analysis of an experiment, monitoring different experimental treatments, use of up-todate
techniques including trophic markers (stable isotopes, fatty acids, compound-