Marine Atlantic infralittoral fine sand
Quick facts
| Red List habitat type | code NEAA5.23 |
|---|---|
| Threat status | |
| Europe | Data Deficient |
| EU | Data Deficient |
| Relation to |
|
| Source | European Red List habitat factsheet |
| European Red List of habitats reports | |
| European Red List of habitats (Excel table) |
Summary
This habitat is found in clean sands which occur in the shallow sublittoral to at least 30m depth either on the open coast or in tide-swept channels of marine inlets. The substratum may be formed into dunes on exposed or tide-swept coasts, and may be interspersed with cobbles and pebbles in some situations. The habitat includes areas of well-sorted medium and find sands subject to physical disturbance as a result of wave action and occasionally strong tidal streams. It can extend over large areas, for example being found in a wide stretch adjacent to the coast of the Netherlands to depths of 15-20m. The epifauna are necessarily tolerant to scour by sand. The habitat is characterised by a range of taxa including polychaetes, bivalve molluscs and amphipods.
Indicators of quality:
Both biotic and abiotic indicators have been used to describe marine habitat quality. These include: the presence of characteristic species as well as those which are sensitive to the pressures the habitat may face; water quality parameters; levels of exposure to particular pressure, and more integrated indices which describe habitat structure and function, such as trophic index, or successional stages of development in habitats that have a natural cycle of change over time.
There are no commonly agreed indicators of quality for this habitat, although particular parameters may have been set in certain situations e.g. protected features within Natura 2000 sites, where reference values have been determined and applied on a location-specific basis.
Threat status
Synthesis of Red List assessment
This habitat has a large EOO and AOO, and therefore qualifies as Least Concern under criterion B. However the habitat is assessed as Data Deficient both at the EU 28 and EU 28+ levels because of the lack of information on any overall trends in quantity and quality.
| EU | |
| Red List Category | Red List Criteria |
| Data Deficient | - |
| Europe | |
| Red List Category | Red List Criteria |
| Data Deficient | - |
Confidence in the assessment
Pressures and threats
- Biological resource use other than agriculture & forestry
- Fishing and harvesting aquatic resources
- Professional active fishing
- Benthic or demersal trawling
- Benthic dredging
- Pollution
- Marine water pollution
- Oil spills in the sea
- Toxic chemical discharge from material dumped at sea
- Synthetic compound contamination
- Natural System modifications
- Human induced changes in hydraulic conditions
- Removal of sediments (mud...)
- Dredging/ Removal of limnic sediments
- Modification of hydrographic functioning, general
- Climate change
- Changes in abiotic conditions
- Water flow changes (limnic, tidal and oceanic)
- Wave exposure changes
Habitat restoration potential
Trends in extent |
|
Average current trend in quantity |
|
Unknown  |
Unknown |
| EU28 | EU28+ |
Trends in quality |
|
Average current trend in quality |
|
| Unknown |
Unknown |
| EU28 | EU28+ |
Conservation and management needs
List of conservation and management needs
- Measures related to wetland, freshwater and coastal habitats
- Restoring/Improving water quality
- Measures related to marine habitats
- Other marine-related measures
- Measures related to spatial planning
- Establish protected areas/sites
- Measures related to hunting, taking and fishing and species management
- Regulation/Management of fishery in marine and brackish systems
Distribution
Geographic occurrence and trends
| Seas | Present or presence uncertain | Current area of habitat (Km2) | Recent trend in quantity (last 50 years) | Recent trend in quality (last 50 years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast | Present | unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Celtic Seas | ||||
| Greater North Sea | ||||
| Macaronesia | ||||
| Kattegat |
Extent of Occurrence, Area of Occupancy and habitat area
| Extent of Occurrence (EOO) (Km2) | Area of Occupancy (AOO) | Current estimated Total Area | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU28 | 4,163,089 | 972 | >5,176 | The area estimate for this habitat has been derived from a synthesis of EUNIS seabed habitat geospatial information for the European Seas but is recognised as being an underestimate. |
| EU28+ | >972 | >5,176 | EOO and AOO have been calculated on the available data. Although this data set is known to be incomplete the figures exceed the thresholds for threatened status. |
EOO = the area (km2) of the envelope around all occurrences of a habitat (calculated by a minimum convex polygon).
