According to Wilhelmsson, it is possible to increase or reduce the prevalence of different species through foundation design. When, in a large scale experiment, holes were made in the foundation, the number of rock crabs increased dramatically.
- Through constructing wind and wave power farms it should be possible to create large areas of biologically productive reef structures which are also protected from harmful bottom trawling, says Dan Wilhelmsson, but he also issues a warning:
- The number of predators on artificial reefs may sometimes be so large that prey organisms such as sea pens, brittle stars and crustaceans are driven out of the environment, and some species may completely disappear.