Population dynamics of gelatinous organisms and their environmental connections

Gelatinous organisms are key members of the marine environment and have been around circa 540-520 million years. It is well known that blooms (sudden outbreak of one species which comes to dominate the plankton for a finite period) are natural phenomena, which occur seasonally in many marine ecosystems. However, swimming can be perceived as a “dangerous” activity in the presence of jellyfish blooms and this can negatively affect the tourist trade. The economic damage is evident and can be seriously detrimental when tourism is the main source of income, as is the case in many coastal economies in southern Spain. In recent decades, the proliferation of jellyfish in coastal waters appears to have increased in both frequency and intensity, producing negative ecological, social and economic impacts. In some regions, these blooms of gelatinous organisms have been connected to anthropogenic practices such as overfishing, pollution, eutrophication, translocation, climate change, and ocean acidification. Historically, due to a lack of interest in the ecological role of gelatinous organisms, there is a clear gap of knowledge about their taxonomy, life cycle, ecology and ecosystem services.Tesis Univ. Granada.PERSEUS: Police-oriented marine Environmental Research in the Southern European Seas (FP7-287600) financiados por la Comisión Europea. MED2-CA: “Respuesta de medusas mediterráneas al efecto interactivo de motores climáticos de impacto: supervivencia en un Mediterráneo más cálido y ácido” (CTM2016-75487-R) financiados por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. “Forzamientos físicos en la proliferación costera de organismos gelatinosos”: Proyecto Intramural (201730I072) financiado por CSIC. “El estrecho como actor y receptor global: sistemas de observación en los ecosistemas marinos de Andalucía. Observatorio de cambio global del estrecho”: Convenio firmado entre el CSIC y la Consejería de Medio Ambiente (Junta de Andalucía). “Desarrollo de algoritmos para la detección remota de grupos funcionales de fitoplancton y su interrelación con el marco fisico en el estrecho de Gibraltar y mar de Alborán” (CTM2014-58181-R) financiados por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitivida