Kelp often dominates hard rocky substrata in the coastal watersof temperate, boreal and subantarctic regions of the world's oceans. The habitat providedby kelp holdfasts supports high species richness and high abundance of a range of invertebratetaxa. Studies conducted on the effects of stress on these communities have indicated that theyare sensitive to stressors and that the response is often predictable. With the growing body ofliterature on natural variation in holdfast community structure, studies of the impacts of stressare becoming more readily interpretable making the macrofauna of this habitat a potentiallyimportant tool for evaluating anthropogenic effects on hard substrata in coastal environments. Limitations of the use of holdfast fauna in studies of stress include the fact that brownseaweeds may disappear from polluted areas of reef, and where they persist, holdfaststructure may be altered directly by the stressor. An additional problem is that manipulative,experimental studies are difficult. Artificial holdfasts may provide a means by which thedemonstrated sensitivity of the holdfast community can be combined with a manipulative approach to testspecific hypotheses related to effects of stress in shallow coastal environments.