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M - Habitats benthiques marins

Marine benthic habitats

Classification des habitats EUNIS 2022

Descriptif de l'habitat

Marine benthic habitats are the bed of seas directly connected to the oceans, i.e. part of the continuous body of water which covers the greater part of the earth’s surface and which surrounds its land masses. They may be under waters which are fully saline, brackish or almost fresh. Marine benthic habitats include those below spring high tide limit (or below mean water level in non-tidal waters) and enclosed coastal saline or brackish waters, without a permanent surface connection to the sea but either with intermittent surface or sub-surface connections (as in lagoons). Rockpools in the supralittoral zone are considered as enclaves of the marine zone. Marine benthic habitats also include marine littoral habitats which are subject to wet and dry periods on a tidal cycle including tidal saltmarshes; marine littoral habitats which are normally water-covered but intermittently exposed due to the action of wind or atmospheric pressure changes; freshly deposited marine strandlines characterised by marine invertebrates. Waterlogged littoral saltmarshes and associated saline or brackish pools above the mean water level in non-tidal waters or above the spring high tide limit in tidal waters are included with marine habitats. Marine benthic habitats further include constructed marine saline habitats below water level as defined above (such as in marinas, harbours, etc) which support a semi-natural community of both plants and animals. The splash zone immediately above the mean water line, as well the spray zone and any zone subject to sporadic inundation with salt water and inhabited predominantly by marine species, is included in marine habitats. The adjacent zone only very rarely subject to salt spray and dominated by terrestrial species is considered part of coastal habitats (N). Supralittoral sands and wracks may be found also in coastal habitats (N).

Bibliography

European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity 2022. EUNIS marine habitat classification 2022 including crosswalks. Table Excel. (Source)