Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 28, 2026
A Low-Cost Method of Measuring the In Situ Primary Productivity of Periphyton Communities of Lentic Waters
Published on: December 16, 2022
Measurement of low-frequency tissue response of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica
Jay R Johnson1, Gabriel R Venegas1, Preston S Wilson1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA johnson.jayrichard@utexas.edu, gvenegas@utexas.edu, pswilson@mail.utexas.edu.
Abstract:
A one-dimensional acoustic resonator technique was used to study leaves of the Mediterranean seagrass species Posidonia oceanica collected from Crete and Sicily. The leaf blades were finely divided, mixed with artificial seawater, and degassed to create a suspension of tissue independent of leaf structure and free bubbles or internal voids. The low-frequency (1 to 8 kHz) bulk modulus of the leaf tissue was inferred from the acoustic measurements and independent density measurements. The measured density of the seagrass tissue was 960 ± 20 kg/m3 which agrees with previously published values. The inferred bulk modulus was 2.1 GPa with 90% confidence limits 1.0-5.0 GPa.
