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The Challenge of Understanding and Quantifying Fish Responses to Turbulence-Dominated Physical Environments

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Natural Locomotion in Fluids and on Surfaces

Part of the book series: The IMA Volumes in Mathematics and its Applications ((IMA,volume 155))

Abstract

The natural habitats of fishes are characterized by water movements driven by a multitude of physical processes of either natural or human origin. The resultant unsteadiness is exacerbated when flow interacts with surfaces, such as the bottom and banks, and protruding objects, such as corals, boulders, and woody debris. There is growing interest in the impacts on performance and behavior of fishes swimming in “turbulent flows”. The ability of fishes to stabilize body posture and their swimming trajectories is thought to be important in determining species distributions and densities, and hence resultant assemblages in various habitats. Understanding impacts of turbulence and vorticity on fishes is important as human practices modify water movements, and as turbulence-generating structures ranging from hardening shorelines to control erosion, through designing fish deterrents, to the design of fish passageways become common. Collaboration between engineers and biologists is essential in order to generate adequate and sustainable solutions. Previous work on fish responses to turbulent perturbations is discussed and new theoretical concepts/framework are proposed to quantify fish-eddy interactions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2125, USA

    Aline J. Cotel

  2. School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1041, USA

    Paul W. Webb

Authors
  1. Aline J. Cotel
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  2. Paul W. Webb
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aline J. Cotel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Courant Institute of Math Sciences, New York University, Mercer Street 251, New York City, 10012, New York, USA

    Stephen Childress

  2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Avenue 77, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    Anette Hosoi

  3. , Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Michigan, Auto Lab 2027, Ann Arbor, 48109, Michigan, USA

    William W. Schultz

  4. , Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14850, New York, USA

    Jane Wang

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Cotel, A.J., Webb, P.W. (2012). The Challenge of Understanding and Quantifying Fish Responses to Turbulence-Dominated Physical Environments. In: Childress, S., Hosoi, A., Schultz, W., Wang, J. (eds) Natural Locomotion in Fluids and on Surfaces. The IMA Volumes in Mathematics and its Applications, vol 155. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3997-4_2

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