Paper short abstract:

This paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach, investigating how the history of artificial reef development can inform our understanding of the values we assign to the natural world through the deployment of simulations of such spaces.

Paper long abstract:

Americans have been building artificial reefs for almost 60 years, with state programs (Alabama) beginning as early as 1965 and a federal program established in 1972. The Clinton Administration (1993-2001) committed federal resources to artificial reef development and research, and today, the United States is surrounded by thousands of artificial reefs meant to perform multiple functions, including coastal storm protection, habitat restoration, tourist attraction, and fisheries enhancement. The sheer amount of reef projects does not indicate the disjointed nature of these projects. Project managers and reef designers use wildly different values to assess the need for a reef and a very small number of projects are monitored over an extended period to provide information on its success or failure.

This paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach, investigating how the history of artificial reef development can inform our understanding of the values we assign to the natural world through the deployment of simulations of such spaces. Taking Martin Krieger’s seminal essay in Science “What’s wrong with plastic trees?” (1973) as our starting point, we ask why we build these reefs and whether we should. Understanding these issues is particularly important as artificial reef development expands due to increasing concerns about climate change.