Summary

Estimated observations of the biotope AA.H1A2 were collected from the Baltic Sea area by expert judgements for HELCOM Red List of biotopes, habitats and biotope complexes.

Description

Baltic photic muddy sediment dominated by sedges (Cyperaceae)The HELCOM Red List of Baltic Sea underwater biotopes, habitats and biotope complexes (2013) is an updated and improved version of the Red List assessment of marine and coastal biotopes and biotope complexes published in 1998. The classification of the report follows the proposed International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria and assessment principals but with some modifications for the Baltic Sea.Altogether, the HELCOM Underwater Biotope and habitat classification (HELCOM HUB) includes 209 biotopes of which 59 were red-listed. Many of the red-listed biotopes are located in deep areas of the Baltic Sea due to oxygen-free nature as well as in the southwestern Baltic Sea due to the salinity restricted distribution of species in certain biotope. The HELCOM assessment relies heavily on expert judgment and inference, and the questionnaire data represents the estimated presence-absence data not in-situ measured data. This must be taken in account when observing the map presentation. The biotopes are shown on the map using the EEA 100 km grid. This dataset displays estimated presence of AA.H1A2 according to HELCOM RED LIST assessment experts:The muddy sedge biotope can be found in very sheltered lagoons and in some estuaries around the whole Baltic Sea however the main distribution of the biotope along the coast of the Baltic Sea is in the northern parts. The distribution map indicates the area in the 100 x 100 km grid where biotope is estimated to occur.(Data (expert judgements) collected in HELCOM RED LIST project, released in May 2013)