Optical observations and distribution modeling of gelatinous zooplankton in the Arctic Ocean ...
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 e...
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| Format: | Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Universität Bremen
2023
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.26092/elib/2764 https://media.suub.uni-bremen.de/handle/elib/7682 |
| Summary: | 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 ... |
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