Abstract

Long term biodiversity data is necessary for detecting biological and ecological changes to marine ecosystems. The data can inform marine policy, yet data are often lacking for some species and traditional data collection approaches can be logistically challenging and expensive. Jellyfish are one taxon for which data are lacking, and data collection can be challenging due to their life history traits and the inherent challenges of marine research. This research aims to provide evidence for the importance of monitoring jellyfish, demonstrate the effectiveness of citizen science for monitoring jellyfish, and examine how jellyfish monitoring data can inform international frameworks. The first study used an internationally recognised citizen science methodology to increase knowledge of the community composition, distribution, and seasonality of jellyfish in Hong Kong. These discoveries provide a basis for further research into jellyfish impacts on the fisheries recovery efforts in the overfished waters of Hong Kong. The results of the second study examining the motivations and barriers to participation in the Hong Kong Jellyfish Project can be used to design citizen science projects more effectively to attract and engage participants. A key finding of this study was that using bilingual communication and understanding the cultural context of citizen science can more effectively drive participant engagement and retention. The third study compiled a more detailed record of Hong Kong’s jellyfish using historical literature in combination with contemporary citizen science reports and proposes a jellyfish monitoring network comprising of government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and citizen scientists to develop the comprehensive long-term datasets necessary for their management. The fourth study assesses the marine relevance of targets and indicators of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and explains ways in which monitoring jellyfish can help meet requirements under this international framework. Overall, this research explores how jellyfish monitoring data from new and existing monitoring networks, as well as using evolving technologies, can support more comprehensive and policy-relevant assessments of marine biodiversity.

Awarding Institution(s)

University of Plymouth

Supervisor

Abigail McQuatters-Gollop, Laura Falkenberg, Robert Puschendorf, Sanae Chiba

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2026

Embargo Period

2026-09-02

Deposit Date

September 2026

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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