[Cnidaria] Special jelly session: ASLO 2009 meeting in Nice

[Rob Condon]

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce that there will be a special session devoted to
gelatinous zooplankton blooms at the forthcoming 2009 ASLO Aquatic Sciences
meeting to be held in Nice, France, between Jan 25-30.  The session will be
separated into three components: (1) gelatinous zooplankton bloom ecology &
biology, (2) new approaches to the study of gelatinous zooplankton blooms
and, (3) impacts of gelatinous zooplankton blooms on food-web dynamics and
nutrient cycling.  Individual session abstracts are listed below (abstract
due dates TBA, keep checking www.aslo.org). In addition, we hope to conduct
a group discussion at the conclusion of the talks with the objectives of
identifying research priorities and developing ideas on large-scale issues
relating to jellyfish blooms.  We encourage all plankton researchers to
submit abstracts or attend these sessions in what will undoubtedly be a
great meeting.  If you have any questions please do not hesitate in
contacting any of the session chairs.  We hope to see everyone in Nice!

Cheers,

ASLO Jelly Session Chairs

PS There are also plans in the works for a ³jellyfish reception² one of the
nights so stay tuned.


Abstracts

Implications of Gelatinous Zooplankton Blooms on Food-web dynamics and
Nutrient Cycling

Rob Condon, rcondon at vims.edu or rob.condon at bios.edu
Gaby Gorsky, gorsky at obs-vlfr.fr
Monty Graham, mgraham at disl.org

Gelatinous zooplankton are a diverse group from ctenophores and cnidarians
(medusae and siphonophores) to pelagic tunicates.  Sudden outbreaks or
Œblooms¹ of gelatinous zooplankton populations occur regularly in most
coastal, estuarine and open-ocean ecosystems worldwide, and there is
mounting evidence that such blooms are more frequent and intense in recent
decades.  Reasons are poorly understood, but given projected global
anthropogenic and climatic influence they may dramatically alter planktonic
food-web structure, stimulate microbial metabolism and phytoplankton
production, and restrict fisheries production. In addition, little is known
about what role blooms have on large-scale processes, such as carbon cycling
and the fate of gelatinous zooplankton biomass.  The objectives of this
session are to present recent studies examining the impact of blooms on
food-web structure, dynamics, and nutrient cycling. By holding this session
in an international setting we also aim to stimulate discussions and
establish future collaborations amongst the scientific community while
identifying research priorities in gelatinous zooplankton ecology.  Studies
that are adopting a multidisciplinary approach, or are employing use of new
techniques to explore planktonic food-web interactions, are encouraged to
submit presentations to this session.
 

New Approaches to the Study of Gelatinous Zooplankton

Christofer Troedsson <Christofer.Troedsson at sars.uib.no>
José luis Acuña <acuna at uniovi.es>

Gelatinous bodies have evolved in an impressing variety of zooplankton taxa.
These animals exhibit brisk population dynamics and opportunistic
lifestyles, causing plagues, invasions, and episodes of strong vertical flux
of faeces and mucus with various socioeconomic impacts. However, despite
their ecological success, the origin of gelatinous bodies is far from clear.
The solution(s) to this mystery will require a synthesis of emerging (e.g.
molecular ecology and systematics) and traditional (e.g. quantitative
genetics, biomechanics) methodological approaches. We want to invite people
to present data on the ecology of gelatinous zooplankton using new
methodologies or approaches which have been extensively used in other types
of organisms, but not on gelatinous zooplankton. We also welcome people
presenting theoretical syntheses to stimulate an interdisciplinary
discussion on the origin and function of gelatinous bodies.


Harmful Jelly Blooms (HJBs) - what are we doing to understand and mitigate
these? 
 
Dror Angel <adror at research.haifa.ac.il>
Alenka Malej <Alenka.Malej at mbss.org>
Ahmet Kideys <ahmet.kideys at blacksea-commission.org>
 
The frequency of gelatinous zooplankton blooms (mainly medusae and
ctenophores) appears to have increased in recent years. Although it has been
argued that this may be due to technological advances enabling us to monitor
greater areas more frequently, it should be pointed out that some of these
blooms are due to invasive species which are transported between different
regions, mainly in ballast waters. Many of these blooms are labeled
"nuisance" blooms because of the damage they incur upon fisheries, fishing
gear, aquaculture, coastal industry and tourism. Population 'explosions' of
gelatinous animals have been linked to climate change, ocean acidification,
over-fishing, marine pollution and various other incidents. This session
will explore (1) the causes of gelatinous zooplankton blooms, (2) their
impacts on marine ecosystems and (3) mitigation methods, in particular for
the invasive species.

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