Jellyfish population in marine ecosystem around the world is on the rise and may interfere directly with human activities, a new study claims.
The causes for jellyfish abundance suggested in the report highlight the effect of extensive human activities on marine ecosystem including overfishing and global warming.
Researchers at University of British Columbia have published their first global study on profusion of jellyfish in the current month's edition of the international journal of aquatic sciences, Hydrobiologia.
Scientists studied the trends of jellyfish abundance after 1950 in 45 Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) including the world's coastal waters and seas. About 62 per cent (28) of the LMEs showed increasing trends, authors of the report noted.
The study showed that invasion of non-indigenous jellyfish species in four LMEs - Gulf of Mexico, Southeast U.S. Continental Shelf, Caribbean Sea, and Baltic Sea - contributed to slight increase in the population. However, most invasions have gone unreported, which presents an alarming situation.
 "Thriving populations of invasive jellyfish in systems like the Mediterranean and Black Seas should serve as warnings for other ecosystems around the globe, and it is likely that far more invasions have occurred than are reported," researchers warned.
So far no single cause of jellyfish blooms has been identified. The other causes depicted in the report include eutrophication (fertilizers and sewage in waters resulting in bloom of water organisms), habitat modification, aquaculture, salinity changes, ocean acidification, and translocation.
The researchers said the increasing population is a great concern as jellyfish directly interfere with many human activities.
Jellyfish stings causing injuries and death impact tourism with beach closures. It often clogs mining and military operations, interferes with fishing and spoils catch by clogging and splitting split nets.
However, some jellyfish also benefit, notably as food, and potentially for use in drugs, the researchers noted. But despite some benefits, the creature is relatively less studied and the basic knowledge of jellyfish population in some regions is very poor.
"Because jellyfish populations can have important impacts on human activities and marine ecosystems, it is of paramount importance that we rapidly increase our understanding of these creatures," the researchers concluded.
To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:
To contact the editor, e-mail:
No comments:
Post a Comment