Vortical ciliary flows actively enhance mass transport in reef corals
The exchange of nutrients and dissolved gasses between corals and their environment is a critical determinant of the growth of coral colonies and the productivity of coral reefs. To date, this exchange has been assumed to be limited by molecular diffusion through an unstirred boundary layer extendin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96317 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8344-9994 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3199-0508 |
| _version_ | 1811096077571457024 |
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| author | Shapiro, Orr H. Guasto, Jeffrey S. Kramarsky-Winter, Esti Vardi, Assaf Stocker, Roman Fernandez, Vicente Ignacio Garren, Melissa S. Debaillon-Vesque, Francois P. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Shapiro, Orr H. Guasto, Jeffrey S. Kramarsky-Winter, Esti Vardi, Assaf Stocker, Roman Fernandez, Vicente Ignacio Garren, Melissa S. Debaillon-Vesque, Francois P. |
| author_sort | Shapiro, Orr H. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The exchange of nutrients and dissolved gasses between corals and their environment is a critical determinant of the growth of coral colonies and the productivity of coral reefs. To date, this exchange has been assumed to be limited by molecular diffusion through an unstirred boundary layer extending 1–2 mm from the coral surface, with corals relying solely on external flow to overcome this limitation. Here, we present direct microscopic evidence that, instead, corals can actively enhance mass transport through strong vortical flows driven by motile epidermal cilia covering their entire surface. Ciliary beating produces quasi-steady arrays of counterrotating vortices that vigorously stir a layer of water extending up to 2 mm from the coral surface. We show that, under low ambient flow velocities, these vortices, rather than molecular diffusion, control the exchange of nutrients and oxygen between the coral and its environment, enhancing mass transfer rates by up to 400%. This ability of corals to stir their boundary layer changes the way that we perceive the microenvironment of coral surfaces, revealing an active mechanism complementing the passive enhancement of transport by ambient flow. These findings extend our understanding of mass transport processes in reef corals and may shed new light on the evolutionary success of corals and coral reefs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:37:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/96317 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:37:59Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/963172022-10-02T08:34:04Z Vortical ciliary flows actively enhance mass transport in reef corals Shapiro, Orr H. Guasto, Jeffrey S. Kramarsky-Winter, Esti Vardi, Assaf Stocker, Roman Fernandez, Vicente Ignacio Garren, Melissa S. Debaillon-Vesque, Francois P. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Fernandez, Vicente Ignacio Shapiro, Orr H. Garren, Melissa S. Stocker, Roman Guasto, Jeffrey S. Debaillon-Vesque, Francois P. The exchange of nutrients and dissolved gasses between corals and their environment is a critical determinant of the growth of coral colonies and the productivity of coral reefs. To date, this exchange has been assumed to be limited by molecular diffusion through an unstirred boundary layer extending 1–2 mm from the coral surface, with corals relying solely on external flow to overcome this limitation. Here, we present direct microscopic evidence that, instead, corals can actively enhance mass transport through strong vortical flows driven by motile epidermal cilia covering their entire surface. Ciliary beating produces quasi-steady arrays of counterrotating vortices that vigorously stir a layer of water extending up to 2 mm from the coral surface. We show that, under low ambient flow velocities, these vortices, rather than molecular diffusion, control the exchange of nutrients and oxygen between the coral and its environment, enhancing mass transfer rates by up to 400%. This ability of corals to stir their boundary layer changes the way that we perceive the microenvironment of coral surfaces, revealing an active mechanism complementing the passive enhancement of transport by ambient flow. These findings extend our understanding of mass transport processes in reef corals and may shed new light on the evolutionary success of corals and coral reefs. Human Frontier Science Program (Strasbourg, France) (Award RGY0089) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant OCE-0744641-CAREER) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 1R01GM100473-01) Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Investigator Grant GBMF3783) 2015-04-01T17:56:00Z 2015-04-01T17:56:00Z 2014-09 2013-12 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0027-8424 1091-6490 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96317 Shapiro, Orr H., Vicente I. Fernandez, Melissa Garren, Jeffrey S. Guasto, François P. Debaillon-Vesque, Esti Kramarsky-Winter, Assaf Vardi, and Roman Stocker. “Vortical Ciliary Flows Actively Enhance Mass Transport in Reef Corals.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, no. 37 (September 5, 2014): 13391–13396. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8344-9994 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3199-0508 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1323094111 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) |
| spellingShingle | Shapiro, Orr H. Guasto, Jeffrey S. Kramarsky-Winter, Esti Vardi, Assaf Stocker, Roman Fernandez, Vicente Ignacio Garren, Melissa S. Debaillon-Vesque, Francois P. Vortical ciliary flows actively enhance mass transport in reef corals |
| title | Vortical ciliary flows actively enhance mass transport in reef corals |
| title_full | Vortical ciliary flows actively enhance mass transport in reef corals |
| title_fullStr | Vortical ciliary flows actively enhance mass transport in reef corals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vortical ciliary flows actively enhance mass transport in reef corals |
| title_short | Vortical ciliary flows actively enhance mass transport in reef corals |
| title_sort | vortical ciliary flows actively enhance mass transport in reef corals |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96317 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8344-9994 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3199-0508 |
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