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Filter-Feeding Zoobenthos and Hydrodynamics

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Marine Animal Forests

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Abstract

This chapter summarizes recent years’ studies on zoobenthic filter feeding in the sea. General principles are extracted based on experiments and mathematical modeling, mainly from own studies in shallow temperate Danish waters, in order to present primary characteristics of the sophisticated interplay between benthic filter feeders and hydrodynamics. Starting from the general concept of grazing potential and typical data on benthic population densities its realization is considered, first at the level of the individual organism through the processes of pumping and trapping of food particles for ingestion which relies on hydrodynamics. Studies have shown the importance of biomixing giving increased vertical seston flux due to mixing induced by exhalant jets of filter feeders, particularly in stagnant water but likely also in benthic boundary layers over mussel beds at moderate flow velocities. Mathematical models for such flows are discussed. At the scale of benthic boundary layers, mussels experience flows that are usually turbulent, but at the smaller scale of sublayers, colonies of bryozoans experience viscous-dominated flow that needs modeling. Finally, a case study from a particular shallow water area illustrates the effects of tide, current, and wind on vertical mixing, growth rates, and ecological implications. The main biophysical processes that may allow or prevent dense populations of filter feeders to control the phytoplankton biomass in shallow waters are presented along with remaining challenges for development of improved models for the benthic boundary layers, including effects of wall roughness, biomixing, and oscillating flows caused by waves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biological Research Centre, University of Southern Denmark, Hindsholmvej 11, 5300, Kerteminde, Denmark

    Hans Ulrik Riisgård

  2. DTU Mechanical Engineering, Fluid Mechanics, Technical University of Denmark, Nils Koppels Allé, Bygning 403, 2800 Kgs., Lyngby, Denmark

    Poul S. Larsen

Authors
  1. Hans Ulrik Riisgård
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  2. Poul S. Larsen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hans Ulrik Riisgård .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. Environmental Science & Technology Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain

    Sergio Rossi

  2. LECOB / Ocean Observatory CNRS / Pierre and Marie Curie University, Banyuls-sur-mer, France

    Lorenzo Bramanti

  3. Dept. Marine Biology & Oceanography, Institute of Marine Sciences, Barcelona, Spain

    Andrea Gori

  4. Balearic Oceanographic Centre Spanish Institute of Oceanography, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Covadonga Orejas Saco del Valle

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Riisgård, H.U., Larsen, P.S. (2015). Filter-Feeding Zoobenthos and Hydrodynamics. In: Rossi, S., Bramanti, L., Gori, A., Orejas Saco del Valle, C. (eds) Marine Animal Forests. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17001-5_19-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17001-5_19-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-17001-5

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