Seagrass deformation affects fluid instability and tracer exchange in canopy flow

Abstract

Monami is the synchronous waving of a submerged seagrass bed in response to unidirectional fluid flow. Here we develop a multiphase model for the dynamical instabilities and flow-driven collective motions of buoyant, deformable seagrass. We show that the impedance to flow due to the seagrass results in an unstable velocity shear layer at the canopy interface, leading to a periodic array of vortices that propagate downstream. Each passing vortex locally weakens the along-stream velocity at the canopy top, reducing the drag and allowing the deformed grass to straighten up just beneath it. This causes the grass to oscillate periodically. Crucially, the maximal grass deflection is out of phase with the vortices. A phase diagram for the onset of instability shows its dependence on the fluid Reynolds number and an effective buoyancy parameter. Less buoyant grass is more easily deformed by the flow and forms a weaker shear layer, with smaller vortices and less material exchange across the canopy top. While higher Reynolds number leads to stronger vortices and larger waving amplitudes of the seagrass, waving is maximized at intermediate grass buoyancy. All together, our theory and computations correct some misconceptions in interpretation of the mechanism and provide a robust explanation consistent with a number of experimental observations. Significance StatementSeagrass meadows serve as breeding grounds for marine organisms and as blue carbon repositories. Flow through submerged seagrass can lead to the synchronous waving of the grass, a phenomenon known as monami that has been explored in a number of experimental studies. Limitations in visualizing the entire flow field as it interacts with the grass blades, however, leave aspects of the phenomenon in need of better explanation. By developing a coupled fluid-structure model for monami, we perform numerical simulations of the fluid dynamical instability, vortex formation, and seagrass waving for a range of parameters. We explore the dependence of instability, flow structures, grass deformation and material exchange on the Reynolds number and grass buoyancy.