[Cnidaria] CERF session abstracts due May 15

[Mary Beth Decker]

Dear colleagues,  Just a reminder that there will be a session entitled
"Jellyfish Blooms in Changing Coastal and Estuarine Ecosystems" at the
Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) meeting in Portland,
Oregon, USA, November 1-5, 2009.  Please see a description of this session
below.  Abstracts are due this Friday, May 15, and can be submitted online
on the CERF website: http://www.erf.org/cerf2009 

We hope you will join us in Portland!  
Best wishes,
Mary Beth

> 
> Jellyfish Blooms in Changing Coastal and Estuarine Ecosystems 
> 
> Session Organizers: 
> Mary Beth Decker (Yale University, marybeth.decker at yale.edu),
> Jun Shoji (Hiroshima University, jshoji at hiroshima-u.ac.jp)  
> Richard Brodeur (NOAA, NMFS, Rick.Brodeur at noaa.gov)
> 
> Jellyfish are dominant planktivores in many ecosystems and are known for
> forming periodic and massive blooms.  Concerns that jellyfish populations
> are increasing worldwide have stimulated discussion about possible causes.
> Factors including climate change, overfishing, eutrophication, ocean
> acidification, hypoxia, and species introductions may favor jellyfish
> populations over other planktivores.  This session seeks to understand the
> causes of jellyfish blooms in coastal oceans and estuaries and to suggest
> methods to monitor how these important consumers respond to environmental
> change.  Contributors are encouraged to focus on comparisons among systems
> and the effects that these blooms have had on other components of the
> ecosystem.
> 
> Invited speakers: 
> Prof. Shin-ichi Uye (Hiroshima University) 
> Dr. Jennifer Purcell (Western Washington University)  
>