Morphological analysis of cold-water coral skeletons for evaluating in silico mechanical models of reef-scale crumbling
The structural complexity of cold-water corals is threatened by ocean acidification. Increased porosity and thinning in structurally critical parts of the reef framework may lead to rapid physical collapse on an ecosystem scale, reducing their potential for biodiversity support. Understanding the st...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1456505/full |
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| author | Marta Peña Fernández Josh Williams Janina V. Büscher Janina V. Büscher J. Murray Roberts Sebastian J. Hennige Uwe Wolfram Uwe Wolfram |
| author_facet | Marta Peña Fernández Josh Williams Janina V. Büscher Janina V. Büscher J. Murray Roberts Sebastian J. Hennige Uwe Wolfram Uwe Wolfram |
| author_sort | Marta Peña Fernández |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The structural complexity of cold-water corals is threatened by ocean acidification. Increased porosity and thinning in structurally critical parts of the reef framework may lead to rapid physical collapse on an ecosystem scale, reducing their potential for biodiversity support. Understanding the structural-mechanical relationships of reef-forming corals is important to enable the use of in silico mechanical models as predictive tools that allow us to determine risk and timescales of reef collapse. Here, we analyze morphological variations of the branching architecture of the cold-water coral species Lophelia pertusa to advance mechanical in silico models based on their skeletal structure. We identified a critical size of five interbranch lengths that allows using homogenized finite element models to analyze mechanical competence. At smaller length scales, mechanical surrogate models need to explicitly account for the statistical morphological differences in the skeletal structure. We showed large morphological variations between fragments of L. pertusa colonies and branches, as well as dead and live skeletal fragments which are driven by growth and adaptation to environmental stressors, with no clear branching-specific patterns. Future in silico mechanical models should statistically model these variations to be used as monitoring tools for predicting risk of cold-water coral reefs crumbling. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d7df23b6770f48baba6c26a57f05e4e9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-d7df23b6770f48baba6c26a57f05e4e92025-01-21T12:35:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452025-01-011110.3389/fmars.2024.14565051456505Morphological analysis of cold-water coral skeletons for evaluating in silico mechanical models of reef-scale crumblingMarta Peña Fernández0Josh Williams1Janina V. Büscher2Janina V. Büscher3J. Murray Roberts4Sebastian J. Hennige5Uwe Wolfram6Uwe Wolfram7Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United KingdomInstitute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United KingdomSchool of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern IrelandDepartment of Biogeochemistry - Biological Oceanography, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, GermanyChanging Oceans Research Group, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United KingdomChanging Oceans Research Group, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United KingdomInstitute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United KingdomInstitute for Materials Science and Engineering, Clausthal University of Technology, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, GermanyThe structural complexity of cold-water corals is threatened by ocean acidification. Increased porosity and thinning in structurally critical parts of the reef framework may lead to rapid physical collapse on an ecosystem scale, reducing their potential for biodiversity support. Understanding the structural-mechanical relationships of reef-forming corals is important to enable the use of in silico mechanical models as predictive tools that allow us to determine risk and timescales of reef collapse. Here, we analyze morphological variations of the branching architecture of the cold-water coral species Lophelia pertusa to advance mechanical in silico models based on their skeletal structure. We identified a critical size of five interbranch lengths that allows using homogenized finite element models to analyze mechanical competence. At smaller length scales, mechanical surrogate models need to explicitly account for the statistical morphological differences in the skeletal structure. We showed large morphological variations between fragments of L. pertusa colonies and branches, as well as dead and live skeletal fragments which are driven by growth and adaptation to environmental stressors, with no clear branching-specific patterns. Future in silico mechanical models should statistically model these variations to be used as monitoring tools for predicting risk of cold-water coral reefs crumbling.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1456505/fullcold-water coralsLophelia pertusaocean acidificationmechanical modelling3D morphology |
| spellingShingle | Marta Peña Fernández Josh Williams Janina V. Büscher Janina V. Büscher J. Murray Roberts Sebastian J. Hennige Uwe Wolfram Uwe Wolfram Morphological analysis of cold-water coral skeletons for evaluating in silico mechanical models of reef-scale crumbling Frontiers in Marine Science cold-water corals Lophelia pertusa ocean acidification mechanical modelling 3D morphology |
| title | Morphological analysis of cold-water coral skeletons for evaluating in silico mechanical models of reef-scale crumbling |
| title_full | Morphological analysis of cold-water coral skeletons for evaluating in silico mechanical models of reef-scale crumbling |
| title_fullStr | Morphological analysis of cold-water coral skeletons for evaluating in silico mechanical models of reef-scale crumbling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Morphological analysis of cold-water coral skeletons for evaluating in silico mechanical models of reef-scale crumbling |
| title_short | Morphological analysis of cold-water coral skeletons for evaluating in silico mechanical models of reef-scale crumbling |
| title_sort | morphological analysis of cold water coral skeletons for evaluating in silico mechanical models of reef scale crumbling |
| topic | cold-water corals Lophelia pertusa ocean acidification mechanical modelling 3D morphology |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1456505/full |
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