AA.M1I Baltic photic mixed substrate characterized by epibenthic crustacea

Author                                     

HELCOM RED LIST Biotope Expert Team

Textual description            

Baltic photic bottoms with 10- 90 % coverage of hard (rock/boulders/stone) and 10-90 % soft substrata (e.g. muddy/coarse sediment/sand). Sessile/semi-sessile epibenthic crustaceans cover at least 10 % of the seabed and more than other perennial attached erect groups.

Physical environment       

Substrate is soft or crystalline rock, boulders or stones mixed with mobile substrates such as sand or coarse substrate Depth range: photic zone

Characteristic species        

Balanidae

Quality descriptors             

Diversity, abundance and biomass of fauna.

Geographic range               

Whole Baltic Sea

Anthropogenic threats     

Eutrophication

Correspondence with other classification systems               

HELCOM 1998:

2.8 Mixed sediment bottoms

2.8.2 Sublittoral photic zone

2.8.2.1 With little or no macrophyte vegetation

EUNIS 2012:

A5 Sublittoral sediment

A5.4 : Sublittoral mixed sediments

A5.41 : Sublittoral mixed sediment in low or reduced salinity

A5.411 : Baltic level mixed sediment bottoms of the infralittoral photic zone with little or no macrophyte vegetation

http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/habitats/2590