The EUNIS classification refers to "biogenic habitat" but the EMODnet Seabed Habitats agreed to "refer to "biogenic substrate" to highlight that this is specifically about substrate-modifying features."

"Biogenic substrate strictly refers to beds or reefs of a species that meet similar criteria to Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica meadows" (seagrass meadows) meaning that they:

  • Cover and replace the underlying substrate as a structuring factor, so that the underlying substrate cannot always be detected
  • Can occur on different substrate types, so that the underlying substrate is difficult to infer
  • Are detectable using acoustic survey techniques, so that they are typically mapped in the same way as other substrate types

Source:

Lillis H., Allen H., Agnesi S., Annunziatellis A., Vasquez M. (2021). "A combined, harmonized data product showing the best evidence for the extent of biogenic substrate in Europe". Retrieved from: www.emodnet-seabedhabitats.eu, accessed on 2022-03-15.


Go back to sediments

This page was last edited on 15 March 2022, at 12:08. Content is available under GPLv3 unless otherwise noted.