Marine artificial structures as amplifiers of Aurelia aurita s.l. blooms: a case study of a newly installed floating pier

Mapping distribution and habitats of Aurelia sp. polyps in Thau lagoon, north-western Mediterranean Sea (France)

“…The patchy distribution and settlement on the shaded underside horizontal or oblique surfaces of the surveyed substrates agrees with previous laboratory results (Brewer 1978;Holst and Jarms 2007) and field investigations (Miyake et al 2002;Makabe et al 2014;Purcell et al 2009). …”

“…polyps. This is in agreement with the expected influence that increasing coastal constructions have on promoting jellyfish outbreaks through enlarging settling structures (Duarte et al 2012;Qiu 2014;Makabe et al 2014). …”

“…Despite the importance of the benthic population for bloom dynamics, in situ investigations were only recently performed (e.g. Hoover and Purcell 2009;Purcell et al 2009;Takao et al 2014;Qiu 2014;Makabe et al 2014). To our knowledge, direct investigations of benthic population distribution over large spatial scales were only performed in Mikawa Bay, Japan (Toyokawa et al 2011).…”

“…Such anthropogenic pressures are expected to further spread, as scenarios of global change point towards an enhancement of sea level rise and a greater frequency of climate extremes (Field et al 2014). Paradoxically, the expansion of breakwaters, jetties and seawalls in coastal areas also promotes large suitable substrates for jellyfish polyp settlement, thereby promoting the foundation of jellyfish outbreaks (Purcell 2012;Duarte et al 2012;Boero 2013;Makabe et al 2014). Recent studies showed that a wide variety of structures, including aquaculture, fixed oil and gas production rigs and offshore wind farms, are prone to benefit polyp settlement (Graham 2001;Holst and Jarms 2007;Janßen et al 2013).…”

Jellyfish summer distribution, diversity and impact on fish farms in a Nordic fjord

“…Increased availability of artificial substrates may boost populations of species with a benthic life stage such as D. typicum . A ~4-fold increase in the number of Aurelia aurita ephyrae was observed in a fishing port in Japan after a pier was built close by (Makabe et al 2014). Aquaculture constructions themselves may in fact contribute to increased jellyfish numbers by providing substrate for their benthic stages, as well as restricting local water ex change (Lo et al 2008).…”