Bio-Physical Coupling of Predator-Prey Interactions
Abstract
LONG-TERM GOAL. Our long-term goal is to understand the biological and physical processes involved in copepod's feeding in sufficient detail to quantitatively predict predator-prey interactions. OBJECTIVES. It is difficult to obtain detailed measurements of the three-dimensional flow field around a feeding and/or swimming copepod using current observational methods; however, in order to better understand the physics and the biology at the scale of individual copepod, such three-dimensional velocity fields are needed. We have successfully achieved our first objective, i.e. to use methods of direct numerical simulations to calculate the flow field around a feeding and/or swimming copepod. Based on three-dimensional flow fields around copepods with various behaviors, our next research objective is to test the many hypotheses concerning feeding processes, swarming behaviors as well as sensory mechanisms of copepods. Also, with the knowledge of three-dimensional flow fields around copepods, we can couple the effect of the small-scale fluid mechanics into a direct numerical simulation (DNS) modeling of turbulence and study the effect of turbulence on copepod s feeding. These calculations will augment and extend the direct observations, making it possible to identify the fundamental aspects of the morphology and operation of predators and prey.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA629735
Entities
People
- Charles Meneveau
- Houshuo Jiang
- Thomas R. Osborn
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University