Flow Mediation by Understory Kelp Beds: Consequences to Benthic Organisms

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Dr. Eckman and collaborators have been investigating the influence of understory kelps on flow, and its significance to recruitment and growth of suspension feeders that dominate shallow subtidal rocky substrata. In earlier research he demonstrated that: 1) mass transport, 2) particulate deposition, 3) growth of suspension feeders, and 4) recruitment of suspension feeders were greatly affected by the presence of understory kelps. For all species studied, growth was greater beneath kelp canopies than at nearby exposed areas and effects of kelps on recruitment were significant. The continuing research will elucidate the hydrodynamic processes that determined these patterns and will examine non-hydrodynamic covariates that may have contributed to the observed treatment effects. Several hypothesized mechanisms may have contributed to patterns observed. These mechanisms will be examined in a series of field and laboratory experiments that will allow assessment of the relative contributions of hydrodynamic and non-hydrodynamic processes to growth and recruitment of suspension feeders living in nearshore rocky habitats. Development of this broader view represents an important and logical progression in studies of hydrodynamics in marine ecology.