Meeting Abstract
The central aim of ecological biomechanics is to understand linkages between organismal form and function in natural environments, a goal that is of increasing importance in the context of changing climates. Historically, comparative biomechanists have excelled at quantifying morphology, structure and physiological performance in controlled laboratory settings. Mimi Koehl, however, was an early and frequent proponent of the importance of measuring the environment at the spatial and temporal scale of the organism. An especially useful concept Koehl and colleagues have championed is the Environmental Safety Factor (ESF, aka Environmental Stress Factor), which describes the strength of an organisms relative to the forces it experiences in the field. I will review some of the biological systems where this approach has been used successfully (e.g., flow forces encountered by sea anemones and kelp), and how it can be extended beyond biomechanics to other aspects of physiological performance. I will highlight some recent technological advances in measuring biomechanical performance in nature and some of the novel insights that have resulted.
