Record Details
Seasonal food web models for the Oregon inner-shelf ecosystem : investigating the role of large jellyfish
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Seasonal food web models for the Oregon inner-shelf ecosystem : investigating the role of large jellyfish |
| Names |
Ruzicka, James J.
(creator) Brodeur, Richard D. (creator) Wainwright, Thomas C. (creator) |
| Date Issued | 2007 (iso8601) |
| Note | Previously published in California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Progress Report, 2007, Vol.48; access courtesy of publisher and authors. |
| Abstract | We developed two seasonal food-web models, spring and summer, within the Ecopath framework for the Oregon upwelling ecosystem to investigate the role of large jellyfish as competitors for zooplankton prey. We used information about fish and jellyfish biomass, distribution, and diet derived from pelagic trawl survey data. Information about lower trophic-level production was acquired from zooplankton survey data. The models indicate that in spring, jellyfish are a modest consumer of zooplankton, and forage fishes dominate the system in terms of biomass and consumption. By late summer, jellyfish become the major zooplankton consumers, and they consume 17% of the summer zooplankton production while forage fish consume 9%. Jellyfish appear to divert zooplankton production away from upper trophic levels. Only 2% of the energy consumed by jellyfish is passed to higher trophic levels. However, the role of jellyfish as competitors may be moderate; a large proportion of zooplankton production (40%–44%) is not consumed but lost to detritus. |
| Genre | Research Paper |
| Topic | Jellyfish |
| Identifier | Reports of California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations, 2007, Vol. 48, p. 106-128 |
