However, few studies have verified these relationships in living beds. The relationship between water motion and rhodolith movement was examined in three subtidal rhodolith beds off the southwestern coast of the Gulf of California, one dominated by wave action and two dominated by tidal currents. Rhodoliths did not move in the middle and at deep margins of the bed due to attenuation of wave energy. Historical wind records and wave-forcasting analysis indicate that shallow rhodolith movement is frequent only in the winter. In deep tidally dominated beds, maximum yearly tidal currents were not sufficient to move rhodoliths.
Results imply that rhodolith morphology and distribution are dependent on a combination of factors.
These factors, especially bioturbation, should be considered when using rhodoliths as paleoecological indicators.