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Size, not morphology, determines hydrodynamic performance of a kelp during peak flow

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Abstract

The morphology and shape of algae can affect their survival in wave-swept environments because of the hydrodynamic drag created by water flow. Studies of morphology and drag are typically conducted at relatively low water velocities, and the influence of algal morphology on drag, over the range of water velocities algae must cope with in their natural environment, remains unclear. Here, we tested the link between morphological variation and hydrodynamic drag for a dominant kelp with complex morphology (Ecklonia radiata), over a range of water velocities representative of conditions on wave-swept reefs. Our results indicated that kelps on subtidal reefs must withstand maximal orbital water velocities in excess of 2–3 m s−1. Our measurements of drag, resulting from flows ranging from 1 to 3 m s−1, revealed that shape- and width-related thallus and lamina characters were important to drag at low speed, but that total thallus area (or biomass) was the main determinant of drag at high flow. Drag coefficients converged at increasing speed suggesting that, at high flow, significant thallus reconfiguration (more streamlined shape) decoupled drag from morphology. This implies that, at peak velocities, only size (total area), not morphology, is important to drag and the probability of dislodgment.

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Acknowledgments

TdB was funded through an ECU postgraduate award. Additional funding was obtained from the Western Australian Marine Science Institution (TdB). TW was funded by the Australian Research Council. We thank J. P. Escaňo Roepstorff, T. Minutoli Tegrimi, F. Vitelli, S. Luret and P. Bouvais for assistance in the field, D. Goodall and G. Maguire for comments on the early manuscript and editing, and D. Thomson for the calibration of the accelerometers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia

    Thibaut de Bettignies, Thomas Wernberg & Paul S. Lavery

  2. The UWA Ocean Institute, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Thomas Wernberg

  3. Australian Institute of Marine Science, 39 Fairway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Thomas Wernberg

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  1. Thibaut de Bettignies
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  2. Thomas Wernberg
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  3. Paul S. Lavery
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Correspondence to Thibaut de Bettignies.

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Communicated by K. Bischof.

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de Bettignies, T., Wernberg, T. & Lavery, P.S. Size, not morphology, determines hydrodynamic performance of a kelp during peak flow. Mar Biol 160, 843–851 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-2138-8

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