Author: Donal Christopher GriffinPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Trophic Relevance of Gelatinous Zooplankton for Commercial Fisheries in the Irish Sea
Author: Donal Christopher GriffinPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Trophic Relevance of Gelatinous Zooplankton for Commercial Fisheries in the Irish Sea
Author: Donal GriffinGelatinous Zooplankton Food Web in the Southern North Sea
Author: Ursula EckerApplication of Stable Isotopes in the Analysis of Trophic Interactions Between Gelatinous Zooplankton and Fish
Author: Isabella D'AmbraOptical Observations and Distribution Modeling of Gelatinous Zooplankton in the Arctic Ocean
Author: Dmitrii PantiukhinPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
One of the most understudied components of the rapidly changing Arctic ecosystems is the gelatinous zooplankton, comprising cnidarian medusae (Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa), ctenophores, pelagic tunicates, and sometimes also including chaetognaths. Although these organisms play important roles in marine ecosystems, occupying multiple trophic levels, they have been historically neglected due to the difficulties associated with sampling them and the paradigm of them representing a "dead end" in food webs. However, representatives of the different groups were recently shown to serve as a food component for commercially important fish species, act as versatile predators, and contribute significantly to the biological carbon pump. The hypothesis of an ocean "jellification", i.e., a worldwide increase in gelatinous zooplankton biomass, proposed more than a decade ago, is still debated today. For the Arctic Ocean, the questions whether gelatinous zooplankton will increase in abundance, and whether biogeographic shifts in their distributions will take place, have remained largely unanswered. In order to understand the likelihood of such distributional shifts, reliable data are needed on species diversity and abundances and to identify the key physical and biological factors that determine the distribution of gelatinous zooplankton in the Arctic at the local, meso- and pan-Arctic scale. To do so, I leveraged an extensive dataset of historical biological data and analyzed newly collected optical data from recent expeditions to study the diversity, distribution, and abundance of gelatinous zooplankton in several types of ecosystems of the Arctic Ocean. I employed species distribution modeling techniques on both large-scale datasets and regional optical datasets, to evaluate changes in species distributions in space and time, under various climate change scenarios. For addressing these questions on the Pan-Arctic scale, I compiled extensive datasets for gelatinous zooplankton taxa from four public databases: the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the Jellyfish Database Initiative (JeDI), and PANGAEA, spanning six decades and comprising over 24,000 observations. Rigorous data cleaning and taxonomic examination narrowed the focus to eight dominant gelatinous zooplankton taxa with solid identification bases, including two Hydrozoa (Aglantha digitale and Sminthea arctica), two Appendicularia (Oikopleura vanhoeffeni and Fritillaria borealis), two Scyphozoa (Cyanea capillata and Periphylla periphylla), and two Ctenophora (Mertensia ovum, Beroe spp.). Three-dimensional species distribution models were applied to these datasets, revealing a pan-Arctic trend of polar shifts in the distribution of gelatinous zooplankton. The projections indicated for most studied species an expansion of suitable habitat, with the largest one for the scyphozoan Cyanea capillata (180% increase of its niche from 1950-2014 to 2050-2099). The largest niche contraction was found for the hydrozoan Sminthea arctica (15% decrease). I further focused in-depth on different ecosystems that are at the core of the ongoing Atlantification, the open waters of the Fram Strait, the shelf system of the southern Barents Sea, and the western fjords of the Svalbard archipelago. In situ observations of gelatinous zooplankton were collected by conducting depth transects with the Pelagic In situ Observation System (PELAGIOS, for which I annotated over 3200 gelatinous zooplankton observations). For the Fram Strait, I assessed the diversity of the water column from 20 to 2,400m, revealing seasonal migration patterns of gelatinous zooplankton communities, providing major additions to our understanding of the regional bathypelagic diversity. A significant population of Sminthea arctica was observed in the bathypelagic layers of Fram Strait, indicating its important, but so far neglected role, and I recorded the southernmost observation for the hydrozoan species Bathykorus bouilloni. Based on the optical datasets of Fram Strait, I carried out a community distribution modeling approach that was used to model gelatinous zooplankton species abundance and community richness. It was projected that environmental changes in Fram Strait will result in less diverse but more abundant gelatinous zooplankton communities. In terms of species-specific responses, the abundance of the hydrozoan Aglantha digitale is projected to increase by 2% in the water column by 2050, the hydrozoan Sminthea arctica is projected to experience a decline in abundance of up to 60%. The analysis of optical surveys also allowed me to document large aggregations of ctenophore species. In the southwestern part of the Barents Sea, I recorded one of the largest aggregations of adults of Bolinopsis infundibulum. This aggregation was most likely a seasonal phenomenon, supported by a large phytoplankton bloom, and may have extended over several tens of kilometers. Similarly, in a western fjord of Svalbard, Van Mijenfjorden, I found the largest number of individuals ever recorded for the species Beroe sp. and could be linked with oxygen-rich waters. These findings indicate the interplay of physical and biological factors for influencing small-scale distribution patterns of gelatinous zooplankton. A general trend in gelatinous zooplankton community structure was found shared between the results of the in- situ observational studies in Fram Strait and in the Svalbard fjords: Atlantic and transformed Atlantic waters were more abundant in gelatinous zooplankton, whereas the highest taxonomic richness was found in the intermediate and Arctic water masses. These findings hint towards a potential jellification with progressing Atlantification in some Arctic regions. With an overall trend toward niche expansions for most of the arcto-boreal and cosmopolitan species modeled, I anticipate major shifts in the distribution of gelatinous zooplankton in the Arctic regions. These changes are likely to have profound impacts on ecosystem dynamics, affecting fish stocks, biogeochemical cycles and the efficiency of the biological carbon pump.
Review of Jellyfish Blooms in the Mediterranean and Black Sea
Author: Ferdinando BoeroPublisher: Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
ISBN:
Category : Fisheries
Languages : en
Pages : 70
Book Description
It is clear that a new type of human approach to marine ecosystems is needed to confront phenomena such as jellyfish blooms. This document provides an updated overview of this phenomenon in the Mediterranean and Black Sea and illustrates how the problem is affecting societies. It reviews current knowledge on gelatinous plankton in the affected region, providing a framework for its inclusion into fisheries science and the management of human activities such as tourism and coastal development. Fact sheets on the most important gelatinous plankters of the Mediterranean and Black Seas are included as an appendix.
Jellyfish Blooms
Author: Kylie A. PittPublisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400770154
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
Jellyfish are one of the most conspicuous animals in our oceans and are renowned for their propensity to form spectacular blooms. The unique features of the biology and ecology of jellyfish that enable them to bloom also make them successful invasive species and, in a few places around the world, jellyfish have become problematic. As man increasingly populates the world’s coastlines, interactions between humans and jellyfish are rising, often to the detriment of coastal-based industries such as tourism, fishing and power generation. However we must not lose sight of the fact that jellyfish have been forming blooms in the oceans for at least 500 million years, and are an essential component of normal, healthy ocean ecosystems. Here many of the world’s leading jellyfish experts explore the science behind jellyfish blooms. We examine the unique features of jellyfish biology and ecology that cause populations to ‘bloom and bust’, and, using case studies, we show why jellyfish are important to coastal and ocean ecosystem function. We outline strategies coastal managers can use to mitigate the effects of blooms on coastal industries thereby enabling humans to coexist with these fascinating creatures. Finally we highlight how jellyfish benefit society; providing us with food and one of the most biomedically-important compounds discovered in the 20th century.
Thinking with Water
Author: Cecilia ChenPublisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN: 0773589341
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 510
Book Description
Emphasizing the role that vivid personalities – including engineers John Laing Weller and Alex Grant as well as contractors and labourers – played in the construction of the canal, Roberta Styran and Robert Taylor use archival sources, government documents, newspapers, maps, and original plans to describe a saga of technological, financial, geographical, and social obstacles met and overcome in an accomplishment akin to the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. A story of Canadian skill, courage, vision, and hardship, This Colossal Project details the twenty-year excavation of the giant channel and the creation of huge concrete locks amidst war, the Great Depression, political change, and labour unrest.
Marine Anthropogenic Litter
Author: Melanie BergmannPublisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319165100
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 456
Book Description
This book describes how man-made litter, primarily plastic, has spread into the remotest parts of the oceans and covers all aspects of this pollution problem from the impacts on wildlife and human health to socio-economic and political issues. Marine litter is a prime threat to marine wildlife, habitats and food webs worldwide. The book illustrates how advanced technologies from deep-sea research, microbiology and mathematic modelling as well as classic beach litter counts by volunteers contributed to the broad awareness of marine litter as a problem of global significance. The authors summarise more than five decades of marine litter research, which receives growing attention after the recent discovery of great oceanic garbage patches and the ubiquity of microscopic plastic particles in marine organisms and habitats. In 16 chapters, authors from all over the world have created a universal view on the diverse field of marine litter pollution, the biological impacts, dedicated research activities, and the various national and international legislative efforts to combat this environmental problem. They recommend future research directions necessary for a comprehensive understanding of this environmental issue and the development of efficient management strategies. This book addresses scientists, and it provides a solid knowledge base for policy makers, NGOs, and the broader public.
The Exploration of Marine Biodiversity
Author: Carlos M. DuartePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biodiversity
Languages : en
Pages : 168
Book Description