Heavy nutrient loading, primarily from land runoff, sewage plant discharges and airborne deposition continues to be a major cause of oxygen depletion in the Chesapeake Bay and estuaries throughout the world.
Gelatinous species are voracious feeders.
Both sea nettles and the abundant ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi are more tolerant of low dissolved oxygen than are Bay fishes. While there is a good scientific understanding of the effects of low oxygen levels on organisms that gelatinous species prey upon, there have been no direct measures of the effects that low oxygen has on growth and reproduction of the gelatinous species themselves. This information is essential if scientists are to discern how the impact of oxygen depletion propagates through estuarine food webs. In this project, Denise Breitburg and Jennifer Purcell will conduct extensive experiments to explore these relationships with the goal of predicting outcomes under different environmental conditions. Their findings will have direct value in enhancing predictive water quality models, which decision makers use in formulating policies for restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.