An idealized model of interaction between fronds of the large seaweed Durvillaea antarctica

• Published in: Journal of Marine Systems
• Main Authors: Stevens, CL, Hurd, CL, Smith, MJ
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier BV 2004
• Subjects: Environmental Sciences; Ecological Applications; Ecological Applications not elsewhere classified; Holdfast; Antarc*; Antarctica; Antarctica Journal
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2003.05.009; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/93178

The effect of interactions between individual fronds in a bed of the large intertidal seaweed Durvillaea antarctica , whenforced by breaking waves, is studied using a computational model. The model simulates the response of a seaweed bed using asequence of connected oscillators which are excited by a propagating forcing function representing a breaking ocean wave. Twonew facets of the interplay between seaweeds and hydrodynamics are considered: (i) wave forcing due to breaking waves isoften not sinusoidal in the rocky intertidal zone and (ii) a frond interaction term is included. The addition of frond interactionreduces the maximum loading on individuals within the bed by around 30% using estimated biomechanical parameters. The rateof change of the loading on the holdfast (equivalent to the jerk) is affected in a similar or greater fashion.