Ec. Bell et Mw. Denny, QUANTIFYING WAVE EXPOSURE - A SIMPLE DEVICE FOR RECORDING MAXIMUM VELOCITY AND RESULTS OF ITS USE AT SEVERAL FIELD SITES, Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology, 181(1), 1994, pp. 9-29
Numerous studies have established that exposure to wave action can aff
ect all aspects of the life history of a marine organism, and can ther
eby have an important role in the structuring of marine populations an
d communities. However, relatively few studies have attempted to quant
ify the aspect of water motion that is likely to be of interest. In ma
ny cases, an important source of disturbance or mortality is due to th
e hydrodynamic forces generated by moving water. As a result, the maxi
mum water velocity to which an organism is exposed will determine whet
her it can survive in a given environment. Here we describe a maximum
velocity recorder that is a modification of the described dynamometer.
The device is simple and inexpensive to build and easily deployed in
large numbers. A mathematical model is presented that describes the co
nditions under which the device provides accurate estimates of maximal
water velocity, and when it should be used with caution. A number of
recorders were used to quantify maximal daily water velocities at thre
e intertidal habitats on the central coast of California, The correlat
ion of these measurements with qualitative descriptions of each site i
s discussed.