Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Frontiers in Marine Science
Volume
7
Publisher
Frontiers
School
School of Science / Centre for Marine Ecosystem Research
RAS ID
32050
Funders
Australian Research Council
Grant Number
ARC Number : DP170100802
Grant Link
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170100802
Abstract
© Copyright © 2020 Abdolahpour, Ghisalberti, McMahon and Lavery. Coastal canopies (e.g., seagrasses, coral reefs, and kelp forests) are vitally important ecosystems that provide a range of ecological services (e.g., oxygen production, sediment stabilization and trapping, and recycling of nutrients). The long-term health, productivity, and survival of these canopies rely heavily on the residence time of ecologically-significant materials in these environments. Recent studies have shown that submerged canopies induce a strong mean current over the canopy top, even in purely wave-dominated environments. Thus, in addition to vertical mixing, the horizontal flushing of materials (resulting from these canopy-induced currents) will dictate rates of water renewal and, therefore, residence time in wave-dominated flows over submerged canopies. Building on this recently-improved understanding, this paper provides (for the first time) a framework for estimation of material residence time (Tres) and its variation with core system parameters, including both canopy and wave characteristics. This is done through consideration of a Péclet number (Pe) which is the ratio of mixing to advective time scales. Prediction of residence time for a wide and realistic range of marine canopies (and a correspondingly wide range of Pe) reveals that while Tres decreases with wave height and increases with water depth, it has a complex relationship with canopy density and height. Importantly, residence time can vary from orders of seconds to hours, depending on wave and canopy properties. This has considerable ecological implications for marine canopies through the direct impact on a range of chemical and biogeochemical processes within the canopy. The framework presented here represents a critical step forward in being able to predict residence time in coastal canopies and test the interacting set of factors that influence the residence time in real, complex systems.
DOI
10.3389/fmars.2020.00574
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Abdolahpour, M., Ghisalberti, M., McMahon, K., & Lavery, P. (2020). Material residence time in marine canopies under wave-driven flows. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, Article 574. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00574