EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL APPROACH TO THE FOILAR BEHAVIOUR OF SEAGRASSES

Coastal health relies on the delicate equilibrium between the biotic and abiotic factors. Flora and fauna offer dynamics, connectivity, and productivity, while the physical environment provides habitat, energy flow, and substrate. Regrettably, coastal ecosystems remain vulnerable to various types and sources of pressure which are inescapable or demanding to alleviate without considerable socio-economic modifications. Consequently, the dynamic balance governing the physical, biological, and chemical processes fundamental to the functioning of the ecosystem is compromised. In numerous locations, there is clear evidence of degradation, resulting in a reduction in connectivity, biodiversity, and species population and consequently, a notable decline in both the quality and quantity of environmental services these ecosystems offer. The relationship between the quantity, quality and circulation patterns of water and the functioning, survival, and connectivity of ecosystems, especially coastal ecosystems, is now widely acknowledged. The current investigation focuses on examining the interaction between water and seagrass organisms on an individual level, hereafter referred to as foliar interaction. Past research has predominantly explored the role of seagrass as a friction supplier and identified the relevant coefficients primarily for integrating into numerical models (Shaefer et al. 2022; Dinu et al. 2023). The aim of this study is to investigate foliar interaction and gather data for seagrass restoration and conservation, as well as for upscaling investigations involving seagrass patch-water interaction. To achieve this goal, we selected an experimental methodology that utilises an idealized model of a single seagrass leaf along with its complementary CFD model validation.