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Ocean management

Ecological role of offshore structures

Nature Sustainability volume 7, pages 383–384 (2024)Cite this article

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Oil and gas installations, offshore windfarms and other artificial constructions may enhance marine ecosystems and have been proposed to help meet conservation targets. A study synthesizes existing literature to reveal global patterns in their ecological effectiveness.

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Fig. 1: The effects of different marine artificial structures on ecological metrics for sedimentary and reef habitats.

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  1. Ocean BioGeosciences, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK

    Andrew R. Gates & Daniel O. B. Jones

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  1. Andrew R. Gates
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  2. Daniel O. B. Jones
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Correspondence to Andrew R. Gates or Daniel O. B. Jones.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Gates, A.R., Jones, D.O.B. Ecological role of offshore structures. Nat Sustain 7, 383–384 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01316-8

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