Freshwater Jellies in NY lakes

Biological invasions of freshwater ecosystems have a number of known impacts on community structure and ecosystem function (Havel et al. 2015). Often times these impacts are perceived as undesirable, although there are cases where the introduction of an invasive species has little to no impact on an ecosystem (Ricciardi and Cohen, 2007). Craspedacusta sowerbii, a freshwater cnidarian native to the Yang-tse-kiang region of China, can be found today across America including lakes throughout New York State. The potential impacts of non-native jellies into various freshwater systems is unknown (McKercher et al. 2016). Predatory zooplankton such as jellies have direct impact on prey populations but can have a stimulatory effect on lower levels of the food web; this type of indirect impact is known as a trophic cascade (Deonarine et al. 2006). We are interested in starting a long-term monitoring programs in select lakes around NY to track shifts in zooplankton community structure over time and identify factors related to the presence of C. sowerbii. The presence of medusa of C. sowerbii is known to be sporadic and, although some factors generally related to its occurrence are known (reviewed in McKercher et al. 2016), they are still not well understood.

RCC students interested in pursuing a Research Experience (BIO 191-193) project could explore many scientific avenues, including:

- develop an experimental design

- gather and statistically analyzie environmental data

- track abundance and distribution of all or a subset of zooplankton (microscopic animals!) species

- track abundance and distribution of phytoplankton (microscopic plants!) species

- develop a unique question based on your personal interests!

RCC student, Sabrina Jorge, tests sampling techniques (summer 2016).

Sabrina examines samples back in the lab