Why Tree-Reefs
Large driftwood is vital habitat for countless aquatic species, both afloat and sunken — offering shelter, food, and breeding grounds across freshwater and coastal ecosystems. Yet human activity has drastically reduced the natural flow of wood into rivers and seas, disrupting these essential habitat pathways. Discover why restoring this lost connection is key to healthier river-to-reef systems.
Large wood creates unique and critical fish spawning, rearing, and foraging habitats that have been widely lost due to human alteration of aquatic systems. In freshwater and coastal environments, submerged wood provides essential refuge, feeding grounds, and substrate for a variety of organisms—from invertebrates to fish to benthic communities.
However, centuries of river modification, deforestation, and shoreline development have significantly reduced or eliminated the natural recruitment of large driftwood to these systems. Restoring the ecological functions of wood in aquatic environments is crucial for habitat resilience and the recovery of degraded ecosystems
Georgia, USA
Driftwood should be on coastlines and in seas around the world.
Tag us in your photos of #marinetrees !
Fiordlands, New Zealand
Westfjords, Iceland
British Columbia, Canada
Results
Trap fishing shows that at tree-reef sites fish are 6 times more abundant, larger in size, and more diverse, while crab foraging activity is 77% lower compared to control sites.
See results published in Frontiers in Marine Science
Sonar finds 215–359% greater fish abundance at reef sites across three size classes of fish.
Passive acoustics detects higher fish calling and seal presence at reef sites.