Nutting Memorial Library: Ocean Studies Senior Research: By Method

Experimental/Lab

Journals
Books

When a Google Scholar or database search can return hundreds of thousands of results, the problem of scholarly research becomes finding the right sources. Instead of wading through masses of search results on a big platform, you can save time by searching directly in sources that you know will have the kind of source you need: peer-reviewed journals focused on your topic. These are a few prominent journals that cover experimental research:

Journal of Experimental Biology
This journal focuses on comparative physiology. Marine organisms make up only a small fraction of the subjects of articles in this journal, but that is still a substantial number.
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
This journal focuses on both field and laboratory experimental studies in biochemistry, physiology, behavior, genetics, and ecology.

Statistics and Experimental Design: an introduction for biologists and biochemists by Geoffrey M. Clarke
Call Number: QH323.5 .C56 1994
This guide to the use of statistics in the biological sciences is focused on the ideas behind (and the limitations of) common statistical methods, in addition to the details of the methods themselves. In this age of automated statistical analyses, the guidance this book can provide on the rationale for a given method, in its research context, is more valuable than ever.
Ecology: the experimental analysis of distribution and abundance by Charles J. Krebs
Call Number: QH541 .K67 2001
This ecology textbook focuses on the methodological and theoretical principles of population distribution and abundance (at both the species and community level), species interaction, and ecosystem metabolisms. Each chapter contains a list of selected references.
Exploring Marine Biology by Paul A. Haefner
Call Number: QH91.57.A1 H33 1996
This book is intended as a companion to a lab- and field-based marine biology course, and accordingly it includes detailed descriptions of basic methods in a wide variety of techniques. The book also includes example data sheets.
Handbook of Phycological Methods by Janet R. Stein (Editor); J. S. Craigie (Editor); Johan A. Hellebust (Editor)
This book is a complete guide to culturing and then measuring algae in the lab.

Field

Books

Ecological Methods by T. R. E. Southwood; Peter A. Henderson
Call Number: QH541.28 .S68 2000
This is such a classic book that later editions were renamed Southwood's Ecological Methods. While this includes abundant discussion of statistical methods, it also has extensive discussions of sampling procedures of many kinds, and diagrams of many sampling mechanisms, from trawls to emergence traps.
Methods for the Study of Marine Benthos by Anastasios Eleftheriou (Editor); Alasdair D. McIntyre (Editor)
Call Number: QH91.57.D7 M47 2005
Contains chapters written by a variety of different experts, covering tools and techniques for sampling and observing benthic organisms and sediment in a variety of depths.
Exploring Marine Biology by Paul A. Haefner
Call Number: QH91.57.A1 H33 1996
This book is intended as a companion to a lab- and field-based marine biology course, and accordingly it includes detailed descriptions of basic methods in a wide variety of techniques. The book also includes example data sheets.
The Mollusks by Charles F. Sturm; Timothy A. Pearce; Ángel Valdés
Call Number: QL406.5.M65 2006
The second half of this book is organized by taxa, and those chapters contain the biology and ecology information you would expect. But the first half of the book is devoted to methods, and includes discussion of topics like remote bottom collecting, snorkeling and diving methods, and methods of photographing mollusks for measurement.
Manual of Field Methods in Fisheries Biology by G. L. Kesteven (ed.)
Call Number: SH331.5.P57.M29 1960
Published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, this slim volume covers topics like collecting with your own gear versus collecting from commercial catch, field measurement of fish and shellfish, and observational methods for all aspects of the physical and chemical environment.

Statistical

Statistics and Experimental Design: an introduction for biologists and biochemists by Geoffrey M. Clarke
Call Number: QH323.5 .C56 1994
This guide to the use of statistics in the biological sciences is focused on the ideas behind (and the limitations of) common statistical methods, in addition to the details of the methods themselves. In this age of automated statistical analyses, the guidance this book can provide on the rationale for a given method, in its research context, is more valuable than ever.
Design and Analysis of Ecological Experiments by Sam Scheiner
Call Number: QH541.15.S72 D47 1993
Aimed at graduate students preparing for research careers in ecology, this book brings together essays written by different experts on a wide variety of topics. Among other topics, there are discussions of using ANOVA in controlled environments vs. in field experiments, of using multiple regression analysis in herbivory studies, and of how to measure time-dependent variables like growth.
Introduction to Mathematical Ecology by E. C. Pielou
Call Number: QH541 .P54
An oldie but a goodie: this book gives detailed explanations of the mathematics of population dynamics and the spatial patterns of species distribution.
Statistical Ecology by John A. Ludwig; James F. Reynolds
Call Number: QH541.15.S72 L83 1988
This book provides an introduction to ecological community data, ways to think about experimental versus observational data, spatial pattern analysis, species abundance relations, and a variety of other techniques. It includes some outdated computing information, but the emphasis is on understanding the theoretical underpinnings of analysis.
Ecological Methods by T. R. E. Southwood; Peter A. Henderson
Call Number: QH541.28 .S68 2000
This is such a classic book that later editions were renamed Southwood's Ecological Methods. While this includes abundant discussion of statistical methods, it also has extensive discussions of sampling procedures of many kinds, and diagrams of many sampling mechanisms, from trawls to emergence traps.

R Baiscs
Harvard's Division of Continuing Education offers this free course in R through EdX.

GIS, Found Data

Undersea with GIS by Dawn J. Wright (Editor); Sylvia Earle (Foreword by)
Call Number: GC38.5.U53 2002
Some of the technical details in this book are outdated, but it is primarily a collection of case studies of using GIS to study marine topics, and its reflections on study design, data interpretation, and the role of spatial analysis in broader research projects remain valuable.

NOAA's Central Library
This website serves as the starting point for finding all kinds of NOAA publications, both in-house NOAA reports and scholarly articles published by NOAA scientists. Materials are organized by service, and then by office. (For example, the National Ocean Service includes, among other offices, the Office for Coastal Management, which publishes a series of technical memoranda reporting on the National Coral Reef Monitoring program). You might have to explore this network of links a bit to find something useful, but there is A LOT of great stuff here.
Dryad
Dryad is an open data publishing platform consortium, made up of a large number of universities, research institutions, and academic libraries. Datasets cover every area of science.