14.6 Recapitulation

The primary purpose of this module has been to acquaint the reader with enough of the rudimentary aspects of the theory of turbulent fluid flow to provide a basis for discussing fluxes of mass and energy between organisms and their environment. An attempt has been made through the use of examples to relate this development to processes of significance in biology. An introduction to the two major semi-empirical applications of turbulence to expressions for the fluxes of such quantities as heat, momentum, and mass lays the groundwork for a more comprehensive treatment of exchange processes. A major stumbling block to the uninitiated is the use of strange terminology and many seemingly ad hoc assumptions in treatments of turbulent exchange. It is hoped that this module has cleared up some of that “mystery” and provide a sound base for further discussion.

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