TY - JOUR
TI - Offshore marine constructions as propagators of moon jellyfish dispersal
AU - Vodopivec, M
AU - Peliz, Á 
AU - Malej, A
T2 - Environmental Research Letters
AB - We have studied the influence of offshore marine constructions on the moon jellyfish population in the Adriatic sea, where the newly set up substrates enable the formation of a new population based in the formerly unpopulated open waters. Our five-year long computer simulation uses a high resolution coupled bio-physical individual-based model to track the dispersal of the offspring from subpopulations originating from offshore and shore-based sources. According to our study, the platforms enhance connectivity between subpopulations of jellyfish polyps, help sustain existing shore-based subpopulations, contribute to jellyfish blooms in some areas, and play an important role in establishing connection with the rest of the Mediterranean, in addition to representing substantial amounts of available substrate. This is an aspect that is usually overlooked when evaluating the ecological impact of existing and future wind farms, oil and gas platforms, etc. Our approach could serve as a role model in future studies of ecological impacts of planned offshore constructions.
DA - 2017/07//
PY - 2017
VL - 12
SP - 084003
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa75d9
DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/aa75d9
LA - English
KW - Marine Energy
KW - Habitat Change
KW - Invertebrates
ER -