TY - JOUR
T1 - Linking human well-being and jellyfish
T2 - Ecosystem services, impacts, and societal responses
AU - Graham, William M.
AU - Gelcich, Stefan
AU - Robinson, Kelly L.
AU - Duarte, Carlos M.
AU - Brotz, Lucas
AU - Purcell, Jennifer E.
AU - Madin, Laurence P.
AU - Mianzan, Hermes
AU - Sutherland, Kelly R.
AU - Uye, Shin Ichi
AU - Pitt, Kylie A.
AU - Lucas, Cathy H.
AU - Bøgeberg, Molly
AU - Brodeur, Richard D.
AU - Condon, Robert H.
PY - 2014/11/1
Y1 - 2014/11/1
N2 - Jellyfish are usually perceived as harmful to humans and are seen as "pests". This negative perception has hindered knowledge regarding their value in terms of ecosystem services. As humans increasingly modify and interact with coastal ecosystems, it is important to evaluate the benefits and costs of jellyfish, given that jellyfish bloom size, frequency, duration, and extent are apparently increasing in some regions of the world. Here we explore those benefits and costs as categorized by regulating, supporting, cultural, and provisioning ecosystem services. A geographical perspective of human vulnerability to jellyfish over four categories of human well-being (health care, food, energy, and freshwater production) is also discussed in the context of thresholds and trade-offs to enable social adaptation. Whereas beneficial services provided by jellyfish likely scale linearly with biomass (perhaps peaking at a saturation point), non-linear thresholds exist for negative impacts to ecosystem services. We suggest that costly adaptive strategies will outpace the beneficial services if jellyfish populations continue to increase in the future.
AB - Jellyfish are usually perceived as harmful to humans and are seen as "pests". This negative perception has hindered knowledge regarding their value in terms of ecosystem services. As humans increasingly modify and interact with coastal ecosystems, it is important to evaluate the benefits and costs of jellyfish, given that jellyfish bloom size, frequency, duration, and extent are apparently increasing in some regions of the world. Here we explore those benefits and costs as categorized by regulating, supporting, cultural, and provisioning ecosystem services. A geographical perspective of human vulnerability to jellyfish over four categories of human well-being (health care, food, energy, and freshwater production) is also discussed in the context of thresholds and trade-offs to enable social adaptation. Whereas beneficial services provided by jellyfish likely scale linearly with biomass (perhaps peaking at a saturation point), non-linear thresholds exist for negative impacts to ecosystem services. We suggest that costly adaptive strategies will outpace the beneficial services if jellyfish populations continue to increase in the future.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84919824941&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1890/130298
DO - 10.1890/130298
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84919824941
VL - 12
SP - 515
EP - 523
JO - Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
JF - Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
SN - 1540-9295
IS - 9
ER -