Marine ecology: Attack of the blobs

Schrope, Mark

doi:10.1038/482020a

Cited by 27 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…At this scale, we show a novel coupling between the plankton and fish communities spanning pelagic and benthic environments of this ecosystem. Reports of high GZ abundance have generally been negative (Dong et al ., ; Schrope, ; Graham et al ., ), but we show the general flux of GZ abundance on the shelf and how select members of the fish community can benefit from ecological pulse events, noting the utility of GZ frequently considered to be avoided by biota of upper trophic levels. As inputs for ecosystem models, documenting trends in GZ abundance and their connectivity to the fish community and the environment has implications for advancing our understanding of whole‐shelf ecology (Link et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bloom or bust: synchrony in jellyfish abundance, fish consumption, benthic scavenger abundance, and environmental drivers across a continental shelf

Smith

Ford

Link

2016

Fisheries Oceanography

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Increases in gelatinous zooplankton (GZ) populations, their dominance of some ecosystems, their impacts to other taxa, and their questionable trophic value remain global concerns, but they are difficult to quantify. We compared trends in GZ abundance from direct sampling for the northeast U.S. continental shelf and tested their association with GZ consumption by spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias); the abundance of two benthic scavengers: Atlantic hagfish (Myxine glutinosa) and grenadiers (Family: Macrouridae); and four environmental indices: Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, and sea surface and bottom temperatures. Defined as scyphozoans, siphonophores, ctenophores, and salps, the abundance of GZ on the shelf has oscillated with blooms approximately every 10–15 yr. Conservative estimates of annual removal of GZ by spiny dogfish ranged from approximately 0.3–298 g individual−1 with spiny dogfish being the primary GZ feeder sampled on the shelf. The examination of three abundance series for GZ identified one shelf‐wide trend and strong relationships with 2‐yr lagged consumption and scavenger abundance (namely hagfish), and sea surface temperature. With multimodel inference, these covariates led to an optimal model of GZ abundance. Blooms of GZ abundance on this shelf were influenced by environmental change, provide surges of food for spiny dogfish, and may offer ‘food falls’ for scavenging fishes. The bioenergetic tradeoffs of consuming greater amounts of GZ compared to other major prey (e.g., fishes) remain unknown; however, these surges of food in the northwest Atlantic appear to be important for fishes, including support for benthic scavenger productivity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bloom or bust: synchrony in jellyfish abundance, fish consumption, benthic scavenger abundance, and environmental drivers across a continental shelf

Smith

Ford

Link

2016

Fisheries Oceanography

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“…In recent years, the jellyfish explosion is no longer an unfamiliar topic, but became another marine ecological disaster after the red tides. Jellyfish outbreaks cause harm to fishery resources and marine ecosystem [1, 2], and negatively affect human beings who live near coast. What’s more, jellyfish sting is the most common injury by marine organisms, with an estimated 150 million envenomation patients annually [3], and the victims may suffer from a severe pain, itch, swelling, inflammation, dyspnea, arrhythmias, cardiac failure, pulmonary edema or even death [4–6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

β adrenergic receptor/cAMP/PKA signaling contributes to the intracellular Ca2+ release by tentacle extract from the jellyfish Cyanea capillata

Wang

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2017

BMC Pharmacol Toxicol

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BackgroundIntracellular Ca2+ overload induced by extracellular Ca2+ entry has previously been confirmed to be an important mechanism for the cardiotoxicity as well as the acute heart dysfunction induced by jellyfish venom, while the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated.MethodsUnder extracellular Ca2+-free or Ca2+-containing conditions, the Ca2+ fluorescence in isolated adult mouse cardiomyocytes pre-incubated with tentacle extract (TE) from the jellyfish Cyanea capillata and β blockers was scanned by laser scanning confocal microscope. Then, the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) concentration and protein kinase A (PKA) activity in primary neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes were determined by ELISA assay. Furthermore, the effect of propranolol against the cardiotoxicity of TE was evaluated in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts and intact rats.ResultsThe increase of intracellular Ca2+ fluorescence signal by TE was significantly attenuated and delayed when the extracellular Ca2+ was removed. The β adrenergic blockers, including propranolol, atenolol and esmolol, partially inhibited the increase of intracellular Ca2+ in the presence of 1.8 mM extracellular Ca2+ and completely abolished the Ca2+ increase under an extracellular Ca2+-free condition. Both cAMP concentration and PKA activity were stimulated by TE, and were inhibited by the β adrenergic blockers. Cardiomyocyte toxicity of TE was antagonized by β adrenergic blockers and the PKA inhibitor H89. Finally, the acute heart dysfuction by TE was antagonized by propranolol in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts and intact rats.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that β adrenergic receptor/cAMP/PKA signaling contributes to the intracellular Ca2+ overload through intracellular Ca2+ release by TE from the jellyfish C. capillata.

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“…To date, the majority of aquatic citizen science projects have been targeted studies focused on animals and flora, or issues such as contamination and marine litter, typically in accessible coastal habitats (Schrope, 2012;Thiel et al, 2014;Nelms et al, 2017). Recently, techniques have been developed to attach miniaturized sensors to recreational citizens who immerse themselves in the aquatic environment in order to measure key indicators such as water temperature (e.g., Brewin et al, 2015;Bresnahan et al, 2016;Hut et al, 2016;Wright et al, 2016), akin to attaching sensors to marine mammals (Fedak, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanding Aquatic Observations through Recreation

et al. 2017

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Accurate observations of the Earth system are required to understand how our planet is changing and to help manage its resources. The aquatic environment-including lakes, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, coastal and open oceans-is a fundamental component of the Earth system controlling key physical, biological, and chemical processes that allow life to flourish. Yet, this environment is critically undersampled in both time and space. New and cost-effective sampling solutions are urgently needed. Here, we highlight the potential to improve aquatic sampling by tapping into recreation. We draw attention to the vast number of participants that engage in aquatic recreational activities and argue, based on current technological developments and recent research, that the time is right to employ recreational citizens to improve large-scale aquatic sampling efforts. We discuss the challenges that need to be addressed for this strategy to be successful (e.g., sensor integration, data quality, and citizen motivation), the steps needed to realize its potential, and additional societal benefits that arise when engaging citizens in scientific sampling.

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Marine ecology: Attack of the blobs

Cited by 27 publications

References 7 publications

Bloom or bust: synchrony in jellyfish abundance, fish consumption, benthic scavenger abundance, and environmental drivers across a continental shelf

Bloom or bust: synchrony in jellyfish abundance, fish consumption, benthic scavenger abundance, and environmental drivers across a continental shelf

β adrenergic receptor/cAMP/PKA signaling contributes to the intracellular Ca2+ release by tentacle extract from the jellyfish Cyanea capillata

Expanding Aquatic Observations through Recreation

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