Suspension feeders and energy flow through reefs

Suspension feeders - animals that capture food particles from the water - exert a major influence on the aquatic environment, and most groups of animals, from vertebrates to protozoa, have some members for whom suspension feeding is their major means of obtaining nutrients. Due to their impact on plankton populations and suspended organic materials suspension feeders influence food availability and energy transfer in most marine and freshwater habitats. Many suspension feeders, such as bivalve molluscs, sponges and corals, are of importance commercially, in terms of aquaculture, exploitation of wild stocks, and, increasingly, tourism for coral reef ecosystems. An understanding of the implications of environmental change for optimal habitat ranges, growth rates and potential future exploitation of suspension-feeding organisms requires the ability to predict responses of these organisms to changes in physical factors such as water flow, temperature and particle loads. Research projects in this area include: Flow-mediated responses to environmental change Viscosity effects on ciliary feeding Heterotrophy in reef-building corals Energy flow across coral reefs