MRI-R2: Acquisition of a Laboratory Research and Teaching Flume for Estuarine Sediment Bed and Ecological Research and Education

“该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。“该奖项将资助购买一个5米的Armfield实验室研究和教学水槽与沉积物再循环和造波功能。水槽将被用来估计在各种生物介导的底栖生境在Caloosahatchee河沉积物的临界剪切应力。以及周围的水道水槽还将用于测量大型藻类附着力及其在水流中的拖曳力。这些信息将有助于建立大型藻类运输和扩散的数值模型。大型藻类的动力学目前非常感兴趣，因为需要了解的机制和过程，创造大型藻类水华的海滩上佛罗里达。进一步的应用将是调查淡水流入和牡蛎礁、珊瑚礁和海草冠层上方和周围的沉积物流动的影响，海洋生物的生物力学和埋藏学（研究腐烂生物随时间的变化）实验。

"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."This award will fund the acquisition of a 5 meter Armfield Laboratory Research and Teaching Flume with sediment recirculation and wave making features. The flume will be used to estimate the critical shear stresses of sediment in the variety of biomediated benthic habitats in the Caloosahatchee R. and surrounding waterways. The flume will also be used to measure macroalgal attachment forces and their drag force in a current. This information will help develop a numerical model of transport and dispersal of macroalgae. The dynamics of macroalgae are currently of great interest because of the need to understand the mechanisms and processes that are creating large macroalgal blooms on the beaches in Florida. Further applications will be to investigate the effects of freshwater inflows and sediment flow over and around oyster reefs, coral reefs and seagrass canopies, biomechanics of marine organisms and taphonomic (study of decaying organisms over time) experiments.