Increased Chlorophyll Levels in the Southern Caspian Sea Following an Invasion of Jellyfish

Figure 1

Spatiotemporal distribution of Chl 𝑎 concentration (mg m^-3, note the broken scale here), zooplankton abundance (ind⋅m⁻²), Mnemiopsis leidyi biomass (g m^-2 values for June and August 2001 are from Shiganova et al. [7]), and sea surface temperature (^°C) obtained from NOAA in the Caspian Sea. Note the strong difference in Chl 𝑎 distributions (as seen from satellite during a warm period, September) before (1998 and 1999) and after Mnemiopsis leidyi impact (2001 and 2006) in the lower section of the figure.