Original paper
The invasive freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii – a new vector for vertical nutrient transport within lakes?
Schachtl, Katrin; Gießler, Sabine; Stibor, Herwig
Fundamental and Applied Limnology Volume 196 Nr. 3-4 (2023), p. 205 - 216
70 references
published: Jul 14, 2023
published online: Jan 9, 2023
manuscript accepted: Dec 9, 2022
manuscript revision received: Dec 9, 2022
manuscript revision requested: Jun 10, 2022
manuscript received: Feb 22, 2022
ArtNo. ESP141019603003, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
The significance of “biomixing” caused by migrating animals compared to nutrient transport by natural physical turbulences has been confirmed in ocean and lake ecosystems. Recent research suggests jellyfish contribution to biogenic mixing in marine systems by their swimming behaviour. Similar mechanisms may be at work in freshwater ecosystems inhabited by medusae of the invasive freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii, a species that is now widespread worldwide. To examine the potential modification of nutrient fluxes by migrating medusae compared to other, native migrating zooplankton, we measured vertical shifts of phosphorus in a defined laboratory setup. Vertical transport of nutrients (phosphorus) by C. sowerbii was measurable and the magnitude of the effect was positively correlated with jellyfish density. Upward nutrient transport by jellyfish migration per unit carbon was about 10 times larger than that of similar large-sized native migrating zooplankton, such as Chaoborus flavicans larvae, or about 3.5 times larger than that of a native lake crustacean zooplankton community. These results suggest that nutrient fluxes within lakes could be altered in jellyfish-invaded natural settings, as their blooming intensity is likely to increase along with global warming.
Keywords
vertical migration • biogenic mixing • phosphorus transport • Craspedacusta sowerbii • Chaoborus flavicans • crustacean zooplankton