title: Jellyfish and ctenophore blooms coincide with human proliferations and environmental perturbations.
abstract: Human populations have been concentrated along and exploiting the coastal zones for millennia. Ofregions with the highest human impacts on the oceans (Halpern et al. 2008), 6 of the top 10 have recently experienced blooms or problems with jellies. I review the time lines of human population growth and their effects on the coastal environment. I explore evidence suggesting that human activities--specifically, seafood harvest, eutrophication, hard substrate additions, transport ofnonindigenous species, aquaculture, and climate change--may benefit jelly populations. Direct evidence is lacking for most of these factors; however, numerous correlations show abundant jellies in areas with warm temperatures and low forage fish populations. Jelly populations fluctuate in approximately 10- and approximately 20-year cycles in concert with solar and climate cycles. Global warming will provide a rising baseline against which climate cycles will cause fluctuations in jelly populations. The probable acceleration of anthropogenic effects may lead to further problems with jellies.
authors.affiliation: Shannon Point Marine Center, Western Washington University, Anacortes, Washington 98221, USA. purcelj3@wwu.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Purcell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003063:Cnidaria / Q000502:physiology*; D037302:Ctenophora / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans