Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display

The Controversies Arisen from Misnomer of Gelatinous Zooplankton Impacted by Climate Change

Borgstein, Natascha (2021) The Controversies Arisen from Misnomer of Gelatinous Zooplankton Impacted by Climate Change. Master's Thesis / Essay, Marine Biology.

[img]
Preview
Text
mMB_2021_BorgsteinN.pdf

Download (431kB) | Preview
[img] Text
toestemming.pdf
Restricted to Registered users only

Download (183kB)

Abstract

Despite having been around for hundreds of millions of years, jellyfish appear to be simple organisms without much purpose. Nevertheless, recent evidence suggests that these organisms show incredible resilience to the effects of climate change, so much so that their numbers are now flourishing. In the recent years, more and more reports of jellyfish blooms and outbreaks are flooding the media despite rising sea temperatures, increased ocean acidity, pollution, and even overfishing. However, “jellyfish” is a much broader term than often realized, and therefore biases are easily formed around these apparent trends being reported. To encompass a wider array of organism, the term “gelatinous zooplankton” has become more commonly used by researchers. Even so, the extreme diversity and unique lifestyles of these species, that fall under the jelly-like description, sometimes makes assessing these trends rather challenging. In this review article I explore why there are conflicts regarding defining global gelatinous zooplankton abundances and the recent opportunities that could have allowed some groups to thrive more than others in this changing environment. I also offer more specific predictions for future trends based on published research and provide suggestions to mitigate further controversies in order to obtain more accurate and reliable future trend reports.

Item Type: Thesis (Master's Thesis / Essay)
Supervisor name: Boer, M.K. de
Degree programme: Marine Biology
Thesis type: Master's Thesis / Essay
Language: English
Date Deposited: 19 Jan 2021 09:49
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2021 09:49
URI: https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/23816

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item