Flow-organism interactions in running waters: Interplay between flow mechanics, biomechanics, and ecology

The paper promotes a research area of flow-organism interactions that has recently emerged at the interfaces between environmental fluid mechanics, biomechanics, and aquatic ecology. This new area, Hydrodynamics of Aquatic Ecosystems, bridges these disciplines together and is defined as a study of flow-organism interactions at multiple scales with particular focus on relevant transport processes and mutual physical impacts. Being an important part of its mother disciplines, Hydrodynamics of Aquatic Ecosystems deals with two key interconnected issues: (i) physical interactions between flow and organisms (e.g., due to an interplay between flow-induced forces and reaction forces generated by organisms); and (ii) ecologically relevant mass-transfer-uptake processes (e.g., due to molecular and turbulent diffusion). The paper outlines some key concepts and hypotheses of Hydrodynamics of Aquatic Ecosystems that may be useful in studying flow-biota interactions at multiple scales.