RT Journal Article
T1 Distribution modelling of jellyfish in Spanish coastal areas: An approach based on the maximum entropy principle
A1 Castro Gutiérrez, Jairo
A1 Gutiérrez Estrada, Juan Carlos
A1 Bellido, Juan Jesús
A1 Báez Barrionuevo, José Carlos
AB Jellyfish blooms are natural events with significant ecological and socio-economic impacts, particularly in regions like the Andalusian Mediterranean coast, where tourism is an important industry. This study employs Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) species distribution model to predict jellyfish presence using citizen science data from the Infomedusa app and environmental variables derived from the Copernicus platform. In particular, while users reports do not enforce species-level identification, Pelagia noctiluca likely dominated the sightings in our study region. Presence-only data from summer 2019 were analyzed alongside key environmental factors from March to September. The models consistently identified the mixed layer depth in April as the most influential variable, contributing between 72.7 % and 93.9 % to the probability distribution, highlighting the role of early spring conditions in shaping summer jellyfish dynamics. The results revealed spatial and temporal patterns in jellyfish presence, providing valuable insights for coastal management and early-warning systems. To validate the MaxEnt predictions, observed absence data were used to compare areas of low predicted probability of jellyfish presence with high densities of observed absences, revealing a moderate level of agreement, with 22.58 %–37.13 % coincidence between low-probability MaxEnt predictions and areas of high absence density. While the study is limited to a single summer season due to data availability, it highlights the potential of integrating advanced modeling techniques with crowd-sourced data, this study underscores the value of citizen science for marine ecology and highlights the importance of proactive strategies to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of jellyfish blooms on local communities and ecosystems. These findings can inform regional planning and contribute to global efforts to address gelatinous zooplankton proliferation
PB Elsevier
SN 0964-5691
SN 1873-524X (electrónico)
YR 2025
FD 2025-04
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/25499
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/25499
LA eng
NO Castro-Gutiérrez, J., Gutiérrez-Estrada, J. C., Bellido, J. J., & Báez, J. C. (2025). Distribution modelling of jellyfish in Spanish coastal areas: An approach based on the maximum entropy principle. In Ocean & Coastal Management (Vol. 266, p. 107694). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2025.107694
NO The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the team at the Fundaci´ on Aula del Mar Mediterr´ aneo for their continuous support throughout this research. We also extend our thanks to the technical team behind the Infomedusa app for their dedication to improving data collection tools. We would like to acknowledge all Infomedusa users who contributed their feedback and observations, enriching the dataset and making this study possible. Finally, we sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and constructive suggestions, which have significantly contributed to improving the clarity and robustness of this manuscript. Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Huelva / CBUA
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 30 may 2026