Abstract:
Coral reefs are among the most valuable ecosystems on Earth, providing major benfits to human societies and hosting a wide variety of species. Today, these ecosystems are threatened by a combination of local and global factors that overcome the natural capacity of coral reefs for regeneration. Therefore, active restoration methods have been developed and conducted to help coral reefs recover faster than before. The construction of artficial reefs, which are artficial structures that are deliberately submerged in aquatic environments and whose characteristics mimic those of natural reefs, is a marine restoration strategy. These strategies have the potential to increase the ecological value of degraded sites in both the short term and long term by providing additional habitats for coral growth and acting as future hubs for coral larval dispersal. However, the success of artficial reefs in achieving these objectives depends largely on the materials used to construct them. Concrete, plastics, metals and wood, which are the major materials found in modern reefs, suffer from substantial drawbacks that limit the ability to reach restoration goals. In this short study, we discuss innovations that have been developed to overcome the drawbacks of modern artficial reefs to encourage the creation of a new generation of artificial reefs that can substantially contribute to active coral reef restoration.
