How do benthic organisms withstand moving water?

Many aquatic animals and plants spend part of their lives anchored to the substratum as water flows by. We have been studying the hydrodynamics of such sessile organisms to reveal the mechanisms by which they can affect the magnitude of the flow-induced forces they encounter in different habitats. We have also been studying body designs to analyze how they affect the distribution and magnitude of the mechanical stresses experienced when these organisms are subjected to hydrodynamic forces. In addition, we have been analyzing how the mechanical properties of the skeletal tissues of such organisms affect how much they deform and whether or not they break in response to flow-induced stresses. Our studies have focused on a variety of organisms (ranging from kelp and seagrasses to cnidarians and tunicates) living in diverse habitats (ranging from wave-swept rocky shores and coral reefs to estuaries).

Selected references on this topic

  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1982) The interaction of moving water and sessile organisms. Scientific American 247: 124-132. (overview)
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1976) Mechanical design in sea anemones. pp. 23-31, In G. O. Mackie [ed.], Coelenterate Ecology and Behavior. Plenum Publishing Corp.
  • Wainwright, S. A. and M. A. R. Koehl (1976) The nature of flow and the reaction of benthic cnidaria to it. pp. 5-21. In G. O. Mackie [ed.], Coelenterate Ecology and Behavior. Plenum Publishing Corp.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1977) Effects of sea anemones on the flow forces they encounter. J. Exp. Biol. 69: 87-105.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1977) Mechanical organization of cantilever-like sessile organisms: Sea anemones. J. Exp. Biol. 69: 127-142.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1977) Mechanical diversity of the connective tissue of the body wall of sea anemones. J. Exp. Biol. 69: 107-125.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1977) Water flow and the morphology of zoanthid colonies. Proc. Third Int. Coral Reef Symp. I. Biology, pp. 437-444.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. and S. A. Wainwright (1977) Mechanical design of a giant kelp. Limnol. Oceanogr. 22: 1067-1071.
  • Woodley, J. D., et. al. (1981) Hurricane Allen's impact on Jamaican coral reefs. Science 214: 749-755.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1982) Mechanical design of spicule-reinforced connective tissues: Stiffness. J. Exp. Biol. 98: 239-268.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1984) How do benthic organisms withstand moving water? Amer. Zoologist 24: 57-70.
  • Denny, M. W., T. Daniel, and M. A. R. Koehl (1985) Mechanical limits to the size of wave- swept organisms. Ecol. Monogr. 55: 69-102.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. and S. A. Wainwright (1986) Biomechanics. pp. 292-313, In M. L. Littler and D. S. Littler [eds.], Handbook of Phycological Methods. Ecological Field Methods: Macroalgae. Cambridge University Press.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1986) Seaweeds in moving water: Form and mechanical function. pp. 603-634, In T. J. Givnish [ed.], On the Economy of Plant Form and Function. Cambridge University Press.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. and R. S. Alberte (1988) Flow, flapping, and photosynthesis of macroalgae: Functional consequences of undulate blade morphology. Mar. Biol. 99: 435-444.
  • Holbrook, N. M., M. Denny and M. A. R. Koehl. (1991) Intertidal "trees": Consequences of aggregation on the mechanical and photosynthetic characteristics of sea palms. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 146: 39-67.
  • Johnson, A. J. and M. A. R. Koehl (1994) Maintainence of dynamic strain similarity and environmental stress factor in different flow habitats: Thallus allometry and material properties of a giant kelp. J. Exp. Biol.195: 381-410.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1998) Physiological, ecological, and evolutionary consequences of the hydrodynamics of individual organisms. OEUVRE, (published electronically)    link to article
  • Martinez, M. M., R. J. Full, and M. A. R. Koehl (1998) Underwater punting by an intertidal crab: A novel gait revealed by the kinematics of pedestrian locomotion in air vs. water. J. Exp. Biol. 201: 2609-2623.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1998) The quirks of jerks. Nature 396: 621-623.
  • Edlund, A. F. and M. A. R. Koehl. (1998) Adhesion and reattachment of compound ascidians to various substrata. J. Exp. Biol. 201: 2397-2402
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (1999) Ecological biomechaincs: Life history, mechanical design, and temporal patterns of mechanical stress. J. Exp. Biol. 202: 3469-3476.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (2000) Mechanical design and hydrodynamics of blade-like algae: Chondracanthus exasperatus. pp. 295-308, In, Proc. Third Internat. Plant Biomechanics Conf. H. C. Spatz and T. Speck [eds.], Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart.
  • Koehl, M. A. R., B. Helmuth and R. Carpenter (2001) Growing and Flowing, pp. 17-29 In, The Algorithmic Beauty of Seaweeds, Sponges and Corals. J. A. Kaandorp and J. E. Kubler [eds.], Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg.
  • Gaylord, B., M. W. Denny and M. A. R. Koehl (2003) Modulation of wave forces on kelp canopies by alongshare currents. Limnol. Oceanogr. 48: 860-871.
  • Koehl, M. A. R. (2003) Physical modelling in biomechanics. Phil Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B. 358: 1589-1596.
  • Koehl, M. A. R., P. Jumars, and L. Karp-Boss (2003) Algal Biophysics. pp. 115-130 In Out of the Past: Collected Reviews to Celebrate the Jubilee of the British Phycological society. T. A. Norton [ed.], Belfast: The British Phycological Society.
  • Koehl, M. (text) and A. R. Wertheim (photographs) (2006) Wave-Swept Shore. University of California Press.

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