Artificial Reefs by Bortone, Stephen A.; Delgadillo-G, Oscar; Zalmon, Ilana R.;

Short description:

Artificial Reefs disseminates over 50 years of research on artificial reefs as offered through the 2025 12^th International Conference on Artificial Reefs and Related Aquatic Habitats (CARAH). The edited, multi-authored chapters offer an up-to-date examination of the broadest areas of artificial reefs. 

Long description:

Artificial Reefs: Refining their Role in the Environment and Local Economies represents the accumulation of over 50 years of research on artificial reefs as offered through the 12^th International Conference on Artificial Reefs and Related Aquatic Habitats (CARAH) held in Colombia in Spring 2025. The edited, multi-authored chapters offer an up-to-date examination of the broadest areas of artificial reefs. These include fisheries, environmental management, survey techniques, sophisticated applications of statistical analysis, socio-economics and the role of the citizen scientist in further expanding future research efforts.

A general theme throughout the volume is the consideration given to historical trends in methods and developments and changes that have occurred during the past 50 years. This book builds on the strong foundation laid by our earlier colleagues and mentors. Each chapter brings together a long and fabled history of research but, more importantly, demonstrates the progress and development that artificial research as taken with the inclusion of modern technology, sophisticated analyses, and broadened goals of artificial reef deployments.

Careful consideration is given in every chapter as to the relationships artificial reefs have with the local communities with which they are proximate. The subtitle of the book thus emphasizes the modern role that artificial reefs are playing in the economy of coastal communities.

This foundational material will give guidance to the next 50 years of research on artificial reefs.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction 2. The complex trend of fish diversity in an artificial reef system of the Caribbean off Colombia 3. The Historical Context, Current Status, Management Practices, and Future Development of Artificial Reefs in China 4. Two Decades of Artificial Reef Research in New South Wales, Australia 5. Understanding the Ecological Role of Artificial Structures Amidst Global Change: A Perspective 6. Enhancing Nektonic Communities and Juvenile Fish Biodiversity with Reef cubes® Deployments in Torbay, United Kingdom 7. New insights in to the use of baited video and baited traps for assessing the structure and function of fish and mobile invertebrate communities associated with artificial reefs 8. The Ecological Importance of Offshore Pipelines as Artificial Reefs and Their Potential in Fishery Management: A Case Study in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico 9. Changes in Florida's (USA) Artificial Reef Program: Managing expectations and challenges to benefit diverse stakeholders and ecosystems 10. Citizen Science - Community Engagement in Research, and Coastal Stewardship in Florida's (USA) Northern Gulf of America: The Taylor County Artificial Reef Monitoring Program 11. Social Sciences in Artificial Reefs: Past "Gaps" and Future Directions 12. The "Gap" in Artificial Reef Assessments: The Need for a Combination of Social and Ecological Approaches 13. Artificial Reefs: A perspective of what we learned and what we should do next