Mapping of Structural and Functional Characteristics of Reef Habitats

Reefs are valuable marine structures as they provide habitat to a number of threatened and commercially important species as well as they support many ecosystem functions. Implementation of the EU Habitats Directive requires the mapping of reef habitats and the assessment of their quality. This study reports the mapping results of two reef ecosystems in the northeastern Baltic Sea. The spatial distribution of some structural and functional biotic metrics were analyzed in order to evaluate the quality of the studied reef habitat. The use of these metrics provided supplementary aspects on the diversity and functioning of the reef habitats compared to biomass studies solely.