From Mayer 1910
The popular media teems with stories about “jellyfish invasions,” but the scientific literature is more ambiguous. If you ask anyone who spends time in northern Barnegat Bay, NJ, they will tell you that sea nettle jellyfish (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) have invaded the bay. I am studying two elements of the ecology of sea nettles in Barnegat Bay.
When did sea nettles appear, and what has led to their increase?
There isn’t a lot of scientific data on sea nettles available in Barnegat Bay. Given this paucity of data, I worked with fourteen high school students from the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) in Manahawkin, NJ, to interview bay users about where and when they first encountered a sea nettle in the bay in . We combined those data with trawl survey data collected with the Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS) in order to try to understand what factors might be contributing to the increase in sea nettles in Barnegat Bay.
What trophic role do sea nettles play in Barnegat Bay?
Interest in the ecological and trophic role of gelatinous zooplankton is increasing as jellyfish blooms continue to attract international media and scientific attention: how do jellyfish interact with other species and what effects do those interactions have on ecosystems? While gelatinous zooplankton are known predators of zooplankton, ichthyoplankton and fish eggs, more comprehensive details about their trophic role remain unclear in part because of their propensity to disintegrate quickly in predator stomachs.
I used carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotope ratios to assess the trophic niche of sea nettle jellyfish (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) and ctenophores (Mnemiopsis leidyi) in Barnegat Bay, NJ. I found that the sea nettles are likely intraguild predators, consuming both zooplankton and ctenophores, but that their presence did not dramatically change the food web dynamics.
Presentations
American Fisheries Society, Mid-Atlantic Chapter, 2015 Annual Meeting, Cape May, NJ, Oct 2015, Poster: “Combining models and interviews shows many factors contribute to sea nettle abundance in Barnegat Bay” (T Young, J Vasslides, E Buenaventura, MB Decker)
Ecological Society of America, 100th Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD Aug 2015, Oral presentation: “Two birds, one stone: Using local ecological knowledge (LEK) to elucidate ecological processes and increase engagement of students in science” (T Young)
American Fisheries Society, 144th Annual Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, Aug 2014, Oral presentation: “Combining local ecological knowledge (LEK) with field surveys to elucidate ecological patterns: a case study of an estuarine jellyfish” (T Young, MB Decker, J Vasslides, M Kaneshiro-Piñeiro)
Save Barnegat Bay, 2014 Annual Meeting, Toms River, NJ, July 2014, Oral presentation: “Using local ecological knowledge to describe sea nettle population dynamics in Barnegat Bay, NJ” (M Chang, T Donovan, Q Dunlea, A Grace, C Leahy, M Martin, B Minotti, B Palmer, S Porras, R Whitsitt, Z Zega, T Young)
American Fisheries Society, 144th Annual Meeting, Quebec City, Canada, August 2014, Oral presentation: “Combining local ecological knowledge (LEK) with field surveys to elucidate ecological patterns: a case study of an estuarine jellyfish” (T Young, MB Decker, J Vasslides, M Kaneshiro-Piñeiro)
American Fisheries Society, Mid-Atlantic Chapter, 2013 Annual Meeting, Tuckerton, NJ, November 2013, Oral presentation: “Using local ecological knowledge to describe sea nettle population dynamics in Barnegat Bay, NJ” (M Chang, T Donovan, Q Dunlea, A Grace, S Kuras, C Leahy, M Martin, B Minotti, B Palmer, S Porras, R Whitsitt, Z Zega, T Young)
American Fisheries Society, Mid-Atlantic Chapter, 2012 Annual Meeting, Wilmington, DE, November 2012, Oral presentation: “Barnegat Bay: an ideal habitat for sea nettles, Chrysaora quinquecirrha”, (T Young, N Sassano, J Barny, U Howson, J Nickels, S Whitebread, J Vasslides)