title: Jellyfish (Cyanea nozakii) decomposition and its potential influence on marine environments studied via simulation experiments.
abstract: A growing body of evidence suggests that the jellyfish population in Chinese seas is increasing, and decomposition of jellyfish strongly influences the marine ecosystem. This study investigated the change in water quality during Cyanea nozakii decomposition using simulation experiments. The results demonstrated that the amount of dissolved nutrients released by jellyfish was greater than the amount of particulate nutrients. NH4(+) was predominant in the dissolved matter, whereas the particulate matter was dominated by organic nitrogen and inorganic phosphorus. The high N/P ratios demonstrated that jellyfish decomposition may result in high nitrogen loads. The inorganic nutrients released by C. nozakii decomposition were important for primary production. Jellyfish decomposition caused decreases in the pH and oxygen consumption associated with acidification and hypoxia or anoxia; however, sediments partially mitigated the changes in the pH and oxygen. These results imply that jellyfish decomposition can result in potentially detrimental effects on marine environments.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Chang-Feng
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China. Electronic address: jmsong@qdio.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jin-Ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Gang
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
authors.forename: Hua-Mao
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
authors.forename: Li-Qin
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Qing-Xia
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D017753:Ecosystem; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000378:metabolism; D037401:Scyphozoa / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010758:Phosphorus; D000641:Ammonia; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Cyanea nozakii; Decomposition; Jellyfish blooms; Nutrient recycling; Oxygen; pH