Phytoplankton comprises the microscopic and unicellular organisms that form the base of an aquatic food web. Circulation in water bodies affects the distribution of nutrients, plankton, temperature, and pollutants. Similarly, winds blowing from different directions during particular seasons of the year lower water temperature due to upwelling in the deep water bodies. The situation leads to water currents, which occur counterclockwise, affecting the transportation of materials such as nutrients, and planktons (Purcell, 2018). Environmental scientists use species composition to track ecological changes in lakes. Aquatic organisms such as jellyfish inhabit a wide range of freshwater bodies, especially shallow pools and along rivers (Frolova & Miglietta, 2020). In such ecosystems, changes in water conditions expose the jellyfish to dynamic temperatures, water levels, and phytoplankton species.
Climate change, salinity, and natural resource exploitation are expected to affect ecosystems in lakes worldwide, causing variations in species, phenology, food-wed transitions, animal traits, and nutrient composition. Changes resulting from temperature variations are the primary cause of nutrient dynamics because they affect runoff and precipitation. Apart from climatic changes, human activities contribute to favorable habits for jellyfish, for example, global warming, eutrophication, and fishing, which reduces fish stocks (Frolova & Miglietta, 2020). Climate change poses extreme ecosystem-level effects, which increase jellyfish numbers at a rate that is difficult to reduce.
The Mediterranean Sea had the largest record of jellyfish abundance worldwide, and the planktonic larvae made the first stage of jellyfish. High precipitation and large river volumes increase nutrient loading in lakes, apart from causing stratification and exacerbating production. As a result, zooplanktons increase, benefiting the primary feeders such as ctenophores and jellyfish (Frolova & Miglietta, 2020). Medusa production also rises due to more food increases in the lake. On the other hand, eutrophication, pollution, and overfishing can trigger the development of a lower-energy food chain, favoring jellyfish and nano-phytoplankton, as opposed to an ecosystem supporting predators (Frolova & Miglietta, 2020). These ecosystem changes are common in estuarine and marine systems worldwide, and they promote ctenophore and jellyfish growth.
The Smith Lake occurs between granite-supported plains and productive Drumlins in Ontario. The lake is a habitat for many organisms, including snakes such as the eastern ribbon snake, turtles, fish, rare bird species, and other animals found at nearby locations. Due to the changes discussed above, the lake can assimilate its present loads without affecting seagrass biomass and planktonic blooms. If the catchment loads in a water body increase, they trigger influential opening regimes (“Individual Water Quality Improvement Management Strategies,” n.d.). Therefore, an increase in Smith Lake’s height will extend the number of accumulated loads, but it will not affect the biomass. Similarly, a decline in light availability leads to lower biomass, indicating that ecosystems should have longer open phases.
Lakes have a vertical and seasonal abundance of heterotrophic and phototrophic zooplanktons. The picoplankton composition is significantly larger, forming a substantial portion of primary production. The majority of microalgae are sensitive to nutrient changes and metals (Aouititen et al., 2019). The changes affect jellyfish composition, which also influences copepods in lakes. Feeding herbivorous greatly transforms the ecosystem, and comparing jellyfish regarding their feeding habits to zooplankton shows that there are different main food sources for each aquatic organism. Lake salinity has tremendous effects on population sizes and the asexual reproduction of microorganisms. The species living in areas where salinity is less variable can fail to adapt to the more dynamic conditions. salinity significantly affected popula-tion size and asexual reproduction of cnidarians there.
Salinities also had significant effects on species living where salinity was less variabl salinity significantly affected popula- tion size and asexual reproduction of cnidarians there.
Salinities also had significant effects on species living where salinity was less variabl salinity significantly affected popula-ion size and asexual reproduction of cnidarians there. Salinities also had significant effects on species living where salinity was less variabl.
References
Aouititen, M., Bekkali, R., Nachit, D., Luan, X., & Mrhraoui, M. (2019). Predicting jellyfish strandings in the Moroccan North-West Mediterranean Coastline.European Scientific Journal, 15(2), 72-84. Web.
Frolova, A., & Miglietta, M. P. (2020). Insights on bloom forming jellyfish (class: Scyphozoa) in the Gulf of Mexico: Environmental tolerance ranges and limits suggest differences in habitat preference and resistance to climate change among congeners.Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, 93. Web.
Individual water quality improvement management strategies, Smiths Lake: 2.8 Smiths Lake catchment description. (n.d.). Web.
Purcell, J. E. (2018). Successes and challenges in jellyfish ecology: Examples from Aequorea spp.Marine Ecology Progress Series, 591, 7-27. Web.