Jelly Population Explosion

Jelly Population Explosion: How Competition Can Affect Population Size

• In some ecosystems, jelly populations have increased so much that it is called a population explosion.
• This increase in population can affect human activities and the ecosystems we depend on.
• Scientists are trying to understand why these population increases occur and how to avoid causing them.
• Moon jellies are one of the most common types of jelly in Northern and Southern Benguela.
• A team of ecologists studied two ocean ecosystems near the southwestern coast of Africa—Northern Benguela and Southern Benguela.
• The jelly population increased in Northern Benguela but remained relatively stable in Southern Benguela.
• Laws prevented people from catching too many fish in Southern Benguela, while there were no limits placed on fishing in Northern Benguela.
• Without laws limiting the number of fish they could catch in Northern Benguela, people caught huge numbers of sardines and other fish there, causing the fish populations to decrease.
• Jellies and sardines eat the same food: zooplankton, which is why a decrease in the size of the fish populations in Northern Benguela affected the jelly population.
• With fewer zooplankton eaten by the sardines, the zooplankton population increased—leaving more zooplankton for the jellies to eat.
• This allowed the jellies to reproduce more, leading to more births than deaths, and causing the jelly population to increase.
• This is an example of an indirect effect, where a change to the sardine population caused the zooplankton population to change, which caused the jelly population to change.

Test your knowledge on how competition can affect population size with our quiz "Jelly Population Explosion". Learn about the fascinating world of jelly ecosystems and how human activities can impact them. Discover the indirect effects of changes in one population on another, and why scientists are studying these phenomena. Take the quiz and become an expert on the delicate balance of ecosystems.