Benthic habitat mapping of Plazh Gradina - Zlatna ribka (Black Sea) and Karpathos and Saria Islands (Mediterranean Sea).

Stamatina Nikolopoulou,Giorgos Chatzigeorgiou,Stefania Klayn,Ventzislav Karamfilov,Eva Chatzinikolaou,Christina Pavloudi,Lyubomir Dimitrov,Kiril Velkovsky,Dimitar Berov

doi:10.3897/bdj.9.e71972

Abstract

BackgroundHabitat mapping is nеcessary for the efficient conservation and protection of marine ecosystems. In addition, it is a requirement for EU Member States as stated in the European Union (EU) Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), as well as necessary for the achievement and maintenance of 'good environmental status (GES)' of benthic marine habitats in the framework of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC).New informationThis study provides baseline information on the marine benthic habitats of Sozopol Bay (Black Sea) and Karpathos and Saria Islands (Mediterranean Sea). These two Natura 2000 sites were selected as study sites of the RECONNECT project, which aimed at creating a transnational cooperative network to confront the environmental threats of ecosystems with a high natural and cultural interest, by the establishment of common practices and a joint regional strategy. The specific objective was to map the marine habitats using a defined a priori classification (EUNIS), with the ultimate purpose of supporting government marine spatial planning, management and decision-making processes through the development of a Decision Support System.

Highlights

The term habitat can be defined in a variety of ways (e.g. Bunce et al 2013), it usually refers to a combination of living forms and abiotic factors occurring together (Ichter et al 2014)
This study provides baseline information on the marine benthic habitats of Sozopol Bay (Black Sea) and Karpathos and Saria Islands (Mediterranean Sea)
Marine habitat mapping as defined by the Mapping European Seabed Habitats (MESH) project refers to "plotting the distribution and extent of habitats to create a map with complete coverage of the seabed showing distinct boundaries separating adjacent habitats" (Davies and Young 2008)

Summary

Background

Habitat mapping is nеcessary for the efficient conservation and protection of marine ecosystems. It is a requirement for EU Member States as stated in the European Union (EU) Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), as well as necessary for the achievement and maintenance of 'good environmental status (GES)' of benthic marine habitats in the framework of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC). This study provides baseline information on the marine benthic habitats of Sozopol Bay (Black Sea) and Karpathos and Saria Islands (Mediterranean Sea) These two Natura 2000 sites were selected as study sites of the RECONNECT project, which aimed at creating a transnational cooperative network to confront the environmental threats of ecosystems with a high natural and cultural interest, by the establishment of common practices and a joint regional strategy. Marine benthic ecosystems, Karpathos, Saria, Sozopol, Posidonia oceanica, Cymodocea nodosa, Zostera noltei, Zostera marina, EUNIS, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea

Introduction

Findings

Sampling methods