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

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

doi:10.3897/BDJ.9.e71972

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

Biodivers Data J. 2021 Aug 23:9:e71972. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.9.e71972. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Stamatina Nikolopoulou¹, Dimitar Berov², Stefania Klayn², Lyubomir I Dimitrov³, Kiril Velkovsky⁴, Eva Chatzinikolaou¹, Giorgos Chatzigeorgiou¹, Ventzislav Karamfilov², Christina Pavloudi¹

Affiliations

¹ Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture (IMBBC), 71500, Heraklion, Crete, Greece Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture (IMBBC), 71500 Heraklion, Crete Greece.
² Laboratory of Marine Ecology, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Major Yurii Gagarin Street, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria Laboratory of Marine Ecology, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Major Yurii Gagarin Street, 1113 Sofia Bulgaria.
³ Institute of Oceanology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 40 First May St, 9000, Varna, Bulgaria Institute of Oceanology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 40 First May St, 9000 Varna Bulgaria.
⁴ Centre for underwater archaeology, Khan Krum sq. 1, 8130, Sozopol, Bulgaria Centre for underwater archaeology, Khan Krum sq. 1, 8130 Sozopol Bulgaria.

Abstract

Background: Habitat 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 information: 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. 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.

Keywords: Cymodocea nodosa; Posidonia oceanica; Zostera marina; Zostera noltei; Black Sea; EUNIS; Karpathos; Mediterranean Sea; Saria; Sozopol; habitat mapping; marine benthic ecosystems.

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

Grants and funding

Funding was provided by the project RECONNECT (MIS 5017160) financed by the Transnational Cooperation Programme Interreg V-B "Balkan-Mediterranean 2014-2020" and co-funded by the European Union and national funds of the participating countries.