Marine habitat types and species
in the Habitats and Birds Directives
that also fall within the scope of the MSFD
The Birds and Habitats Directives require the protection of all naturally occurring wild bird species in the EU and selected habitat types and species listed in the Annexes of the Habitats Directive. A number of these habitat types and species occur in the marine environment and should therefore also benefit from measures introduced under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). This Annex provides a summary of the areas of overlap.
The MSFD applies to all marine waters of Member States, including those defined as 'coastal waters' under the Water Framework Directive; WFD 'transitional waters' are, however, excluded from the MSFD. Species and habitats from the Birds and Habitats Directive that depend for all or some of their life cycle on the marine waters under the scope of MSFD have been identified below. Some of these however, may primarily depend upon transitional waters, whilst others not listed may still be shown to depend on marine waters following further consideration. For Habitats Directive reporting purposes, some of these species and habitats (e.g. anadromous fish) are reported according to the terrestrial biogeographic regions.
Marine biogeographical regions under HD and Marine regions under MSFD
Before looking at the species and habitat types it is worth clarifying the extent to which the geographical scope of the different directives overlap. Nature Directives apply in the whole European territory of the Member States. In terms of marine areas the Habitats and Birds Directivesextends out into the EU marine watersand covers the same geographical area as the MSFD ( i.e. Member State waters out to EEZs, and including extended Continental Shelf, where claimed). However, the Habitats and Birds Directives also cover 'transitional waters' of the WFDwhich are covered under the WFD but not the MSFD.
Like the MSFD, the HD involves the concept of marine regions although these have no legal status. There are 5 marine Biogeographical regions in all (Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean, Black Sea, Macaronesian)[1] relevant for the HD (Table A). These are used for selecting Natura 2000 sites under the Habitats Directive and for assessing the Conservation Status of the species and habitat types protected by the HD but have no legal status as such.
The marine regions of the MSFD correspond almost exactly with those of the HD except that the Macaronesian region is considered a region in itself under the HD whereas it is treated as one of four specified subregions of theNorth-East Atlantic Ocean region under the MSFD. Note however that the boundaries of the regions do not coincide in the Kattegat area between the North and BalticSeas, and that other MSFD region and subregion boundaries remain to be defined (Figure 1 & 2).
TABLE A; Marine regions to be used for reporting under the Habitats Directive and MSFD
MSFD regions & sub regions (precise boundaries still to be defined) / Marine Biogeographical regions under HDNorth-East Atlantic Ocean
-Greater North Sea, including the Kattegat, and the English Channel
-The CelticSeas
-The Bay of Biscay and the IberianCoast
-In the Atlantic Ocean, the Macaronesian biogeographic region, being the waters surrounding the Azores, Madeira Canary Islands / Atlantic
Macaronesian
Black Sea / Black Sea
Baltic Sea / Baltic
Mediterranean Sea
-The Western Mediterranean Sea
-The Adriatic Sea
-The Ionian Sea and the Central Mediterranean Sea
-The Aegean-LevantineSea / Mediterranean
Figure 1: The Marine regions for Article 17 reporting under the Habitats Directive
Figure 2. A draft map of the regional and subregional seas of Europe, according to those specified in the MSFD with additional seas for Norwegian, Icelandic waters and the Sea of Marmara. For the North-East Atlantic region, outer boundaries follow the EEZs (can be expanded to include extended Continental Shelf areas where relevant); all boundaries shown are indicative only (Source: DIKE 2011/2/6 – September 2011, EEA).
Marine habitats under the Habitats Directive
The Habitats Directive requires the designation, protection and conservation of about 230 habitat types listed in Annex 1. Nine of the listed habitat types are considered to be ‘marine’ for practical reasons (one species or habitat type can be reported only in one report) and all of them fall within the scope of the MSFD (Table B). There is also overlap with the OSPAR list of marine features. Coastal lagoons which have no permanent opening to the sea are considered to be terrestrial for reporting under the Habitats Directive.[2]
Table B: Habitat types in Annex I of the Habitats Directive
Annex I marine habitat types1110 / Sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time
1120* / Posidonia beds (Posidonion oceanicae)
1130 / Estuaries
1140 / Mudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tide
1160 / Large shallow inlets and bays
1170 / Reefs
1180 / Submarine structures made by leaking gasses
1650 / Boreal Baltic narrow inlets
8330 / Submerged or partially submerged sea caves
NB: Detailed descriptions of these habitat types are given in the EU-27 habitats Interpretation manual[3].
* Priority habitats
Marine habitats under the MSFD
The MSFD does not list specific habitat types, but rather specifies two broad categories of habitats to be addressed: predominant habitats and special habitats. The latter refers especially to those recognised or identified under Community legislation (the Habitats Directive and Birds Directive) or international conventions as being of special scientific or biodiversity interest. According to the Commission Decision on criteria for good environmental status[4], these are to be treated together with their associated biological communities in the sense of the term biotope.
Being clear about this relationship is also important when it comes to coordinating the measures adopted under the MSFD Marine Strategies for the conservation of biodiversity (which should include conservation of the predominant habitats) with those required under Article 6.1 of the Habitats Directive for the marine habitat types listed in the Habitats Directive. Habitat Directive measures should also contribute to achieving measures under MSFD.
A list of predominant habitat types of the seabed and water column is provided in the Commission Staff Working Paper of October 2011 (see Table C).[5]
Assessment of habitat status
On 1 September 2010, a European Commission Decision on the criteria to be used for assessing environmental status under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) was adopted. This provides three criteria (habitat distribution, extent and condition) for the assessment of habitats under Descriptor 1 on biological diversity; these criteria are in essence equivalent to the criteria for assessing habitat types under HD (Range, Area covered within range, Structure and functions, including typical species and future prospects) with the exception of future prospects[6].
Thus, the MSFD and the Habitats Directive are both concerned with the assessment of habitat types (biotopes) in order to define and monitor changes in their status. It would be helpful to have, where possible, comparable approaches to these assessments, particularly as they may be assessing the same habitat/biotope types and the revised guidelines have introduced the option of reporting extra information for some Annex I habitat types by using the MSFD types. To assist with this, it is important to clarify the relationship between the broad-scale predominant habitat types identified for the MSFD, and the specific habitat types under the Habitats Directive (Table C).
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TABLE C – Potential overlap between MSFD and Habitats Directive marine habitat types
MARINE HABITAT TYPES LISTED IN ANNEX I OF THE HABITATS DIRECTIVEPredominant seabed habitat[7] types for MSFD / 1110 sandbanks / 1120 Posidonia beds / 1130 Estuaries / 1140
Mudflats & sandflats not covered at low tide / 1160 Large shallow bays/inlets / 1170 Reefs / 1180 Submarine structures made by leaking gas / 1650 Boreal baltic narrow inlets / 8330 Part submerged sea caves
Littoral rock & biogenic reef / To be confirmed by MS
Littoral sediment
Shallow sublittoral rock & biogenic reef / These structures may occur in a range of predominant habitat types
Shallow sublittoral coarse sediment
Shallow sublittoral sand
Shallow sublittoral mud
Shallow sublittoral mixed sediment
Shelf sublittoral rock & biogenic reef
Shelf sublittoral coarse sediment
Shelf sublittoral sand
Shelf sublittoral mud
Shelf sublittoral mixed sediment
Upper bathyal rock & biogenic reef
Upper bathyal sediment
Lower bathyal rock & biogenic reef
Lower bathyal sediment
Abyssal rock & biogenic reef
Abyssal sediment
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Marine species highlighted under the Habitats Directive
The Habitats Directive protects over 1000 European species (other than birds)which are considered to be endangered, vulnerable, rare and/or endemic. These species and sub-species are protected in various ways and are listed in Table D:
- For those listed in Annex II of the Habitats Directive core areas of their habitat must be protected under the Natura 2000 Network and the sites managed in accordance with the ecological requirements of the species ( Articles 3-7)
- For species and sub-species listed in Annex IV (incl. many that are also listed in annex II) a strict protection regime must be appliedacross their entire natural range within the EU, both within and outside Natura 2000 sites(Article 12-16)
- for species and sub-species listed in Annex V Member States shall, if deemed necessary as a result of surveillance work, take measures to ensure that their exploitation and taking in the wild is compatible with maintaining them at a favourable conservation status. (Article 14)
All species listed need to achieve or be maintained at favourable conservation status, this requires measures to be taken both inside and outside Natura 2000 sites.
TABLE D. Species listed in one or more of these Annexes under the Habitats Directive and are considered marine species for Article 17 reporting[8](one species or habitat type can be reported only in one report). NB Highlighted species would be v.usual/vagrant in the EU territory )
ANNEX HDSPECIES NAME / II / IV / V
Mammals
Cetaceans
Phocoena phocoena / II / IV
Tursiops truncatus / II / IV
Balaenoptera acutorostrata / IV
Balaenoptera borealis / IV
Balaenoptera edeni / IV
Balaenoptera musculus / IV
Balaenoptera physalus / IV
Delphinus delphis / IV
Delphinapterus leucas - beluga / IV
Eubalaena glacialis- Nright Whale / IV
Globicephala melas / IV
Globicephala macrorhynchus / IV
Grampus grisus / IV
Hyperoodon ampullatus / IV
Kogia breviceps / IV
Kogia sima / IV
Lagenorhynchus acutus / IV
Lagenorhynchus albirostris / IV
Lagenodelphis hosie / IV
Megaptera novaeangliae / IV
Mesoplodon bidens / IV
Mesoplodon densirostris / IV / V
Mesoplodon europaeus / IV
Mesoplodon mirus / IV
Monodon monoceros - narwhale / IV
Orcinus orca / IV
Physeter macrocephalus / IV
Pseudorca crassidens / IV
Stenella coeruleoalba / IV
Stenella frontalis / IV
Steno bredanensis / IV
Ziphius cavirostris / IV
Seals
Halichoerus grypus / II / V
Monachus monachus / II / IV
Phoca hispida bottnica / II / V
Phoca vitulina / II / V
Phoca groenlandica –harp seal / V
Reptiles
Caretta caretta / II / IV
Chelonia mydas / II / IV
Dermochelys corIacea / IV
Eretmochelys imbricata / IV
Lepidochelys kempii / IV
Invertebrates
Gibbula nivosa / II / IV
Corallium rubrum / V
Centrostephanus longispinus / IV
Lithophaga lithophaga / IV
Patella ferruginea / IV
Pinna nobilis / IV
Scyllarides latus / V
Plants
Lithothamnium coralloides / V
Phymatholithon calcareum / V
All of the fish species listed on the Annexes of the Habitats Directive (see Table E) which occur in the sea are anadromous. For the purposes of Article 17 therefore they are reported under their terrestrial region (except for Acipenser sturio) as most of them are coastal, and for all of them the information available for the marine part of their lifecycle is very limited.
TABLE E. Anadromous fish species listed in Annexes to the Habitats Directive.
II / IV / VAnadromous Fish
Acipenser sturio / II / IV
Acipenser naccarii / II / IV
Alosa agona / II / V
Alosa alosa / II / V
Alosa caspia caspia / II / V
Alosa fallax / II / V
Alosa immaculata / II / V
Alosa maeotica / II / V
Alosa tanaica / II / V
Coregonus oxyrhynchus / II / IV
Lampetra fluviatilis / II / V
Petromyzon marinus / II
Acipenser nudiventris / V
Acipenser gueldentaedtii / V
Acipenser stellatus / V
Huso huso / V
Coregonus albula / V
Coregonus lavaretus / V
Anaecypris hispanica / IV
Valencia hispanica / IV
Seabirds, waders and wildfowl under the Birds Directive
Under the Birds Directive, Member States shall establish a general system of protection for all naturally occurring wild bird species in the EU including marine and coastal species. These provisions apply both inside and outside protected sites (Article 5).
Derogations to the species protection provisions are allowed in some circumstances (e.g. to prevent serious damage to crops, livestock, forests, fisheries and water) provided that there is no other satisfactory solution and the consequences of these derogations are not incompatible with the overall aims of the Directives. The conditions for applying derogations are set out in Article 9 of the Birds Directive.
For 193 particularly threatened species listed in Annex I of the Directive, and other regularly occurring migratory birds, there is also an obligation to conserve their habitats by designating and conserving key areas as Special Protection Areas in each of the 27 Member States. These SPAs form an integral part of the Natura 2000 Network.Table Fprovides a list of seabirds, waders and wildfowl in Annex I.
TABLE F. Seabirds, waders and wildfowl listed in Annex I of the Birds Directive.
SPECIES NAME / English nameBulweria bulwerii / Bulwer’s Petrel
Calonectris diomedea / Cory’s shearwater
Chlidonias hybridus / Whiskered Tern
Chlidonias niger / Black tern
Gavia arctica / Black-throated diver
Gavia immer / Great northern loon
Gavia stellata / Red-throated diver
Pterodroma feae / Fea’s Petrel
Pterodroma madeira / Zino’s Petrel
Puffinus assimilis baroli / Little shearwater
Puffinus puffinus mauretanicus / Manx shearwater
Puffinus yelkouan / Mediterranean shearwater
Hydrobates pelagicus / Storm petrel
Oceanodroma castro / Madeiran storm-petrel
Oceanodroma leucorhoa / Leach’s storm petrel
Pelagodroma marina / White-faced storm petrel
Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii / Shag
Phalacrocorax pygmeus / Pygmy cormorant
Phalaropus lobatus / Red-necked Phalarope
Podiceps auritus / Horned grebe
Polysticta stelleri / Steller’s eider
Larus genei / Slender-billed gull
Larus melanocephalus / Mediterranean Gull
Larus audouinii / Audouin’s gull
Larus minutus / Little gull
Sterna albifrons / Little tern
Sterna caspia / Caspian tern
Sterna dougallii / Roseate Tern
Sterna hirundo / Common Tern
Sterna paradisaea / Arctic Tern
Sterna sandvicensis / Sandwich Tern
Uria aalge ibericus / Iberian guillemot
Anser albigrons flavirostris / Greenland white-fronted goose
Anser erythropus / Lesser white-fronted goose
Branta leucopsis / Barnacle goose
Branta ruficollis / Red-breasted goose
Calidris alpine schinzii / Dunlin
Charadrius alexandrinus / Kentish Plover
Cygnus bewickii / Berwick’s swan
Cygnus cygnus / Whooper swan
Himantopus himantopus / Black-winged stilt
Limosa lapponica / Bar-tailed godwit
Numenius tenuirostris / Slender-billed curlew
Philomachus pugnax / Ruff
Pluvialis apricaria / Golden plover
Recurvirostra avosetta / Avocet
Tringa glareola / Wood sandpiper
Xenus cinerus / Terek sandpiper
Polysticta stelleri / Steller’s Eider
Assessment of Species
The European Commission Decision on the criteria to be used for assessing environmental status under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) provides three criteria (species distribution, population size and population condition) for the assessment of species under Descriptor 1 on biological diversity; these criteria are in essence equivalent to the criteria for assessing species under HD (range, population and habitat for the species) with the exception of future prospects.
Thus, the MSFD and the Habitats Directive are both concerned with the assessment of species in order to define and monitor changes in their status. It would be helpful to have, where possible, comparable approaches to these assessments, particularly as they may be assessing the same species and the revised guidelines have introduced the option of reporting extra information for some Annex I habitat types by using the MSFD types.
Marine Natura 2000 sites and Marine Regions
As of December 2010 there were 3,348 marine Natura 2000 sites (defined as sites with a marine component of more than 5% of the site's total area) covering a total area of 198,760 km²; (Table G)[9].
TABLE G; Marine Natura 2000 sites designated by Member States as of December 2010.
MS / Number of marine sites / Natura 2000 Marine Area (km²)BE / 12 / 1,265,79
BG / 32 / 972,40
CY(1) / 12 / 132,45
DE / 120 / 25.668,44
DK / 185 / 18.540,53
EE / 92 / 6.626,30
ES / 374 / 10.274,65
FI / 204 / 6.914.49
FR / 283 / 41.298,11
GR) / 225 / 7.151,09
IE / 245 / 6.762,53
IT / 461 / 4.886,31
LT / 15 / 685,89
LV / 14 / 560,32
MT / 26 / 9,44
NL / 42 / 22.781,23
PL / 29 / 7.260,98
PT / 66 / 1.748,09
RO / 10 / 1.573,34
SE / 544 / 7.854,24
SI / 7 / 2,270
UK / 350 / 36.791,06
EU / 3.348 / 198.760
Through the Natura 2000 Viewer it is possible to locate each Natura 2000 site on a map and find out for which of the species and habitat types it has been designated under the Habitats or Birds Directives :
Figure 3: Marine Sites of Community Importance in the European Union (July 2009). These are sites put forward by Member States and agreed by the Commission but which have still to be formally designated as Special Areas of Conservation or Special Protection Areas by Member States. Inshore sites (within territorial waters) are shown in orange and offshoresites (outside territorial waters but within EEZs and 200nm zones) are shown in red..
From Evans, MacSharry & Opermanis (2011). Current status of the Habitats Directive marine Special Areas of Conservation network. Pp 41-47 in H. von Nordheim, J. C. Krause & K. Maschner (eds) Progress in Marine Conservation in Europe 2009.BfN Skripten 287, Bundesamt für Naturschutz, Bonn.
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[1]The Birds Directive does not distinguish between biogeographical regions (site selection is done at MS level )
[2] Evans & Arvela, July 2011. Assessment & reporting under Article 17 of the Habitats Direct. Explanatory Notes & Guidelines for the period 2007-2012. Final draft
[3]
[4]Commission Decision of 1 September 2010 on criteria and methodological standards on good environmental status of marine waters (2010/477/EU)
[5] ADD REF when available.
[6] Article 17of the Habitats Directive states “Every six years from the date of expiry of the period laid down in Article 23, Member States shall draw up a report on the implementation of the measures taken under this Directive. The Article 17 report for the period 2001-2006for the first time includes assessments on theconservation status of the habitat types and speciesof Community interest. To view the conservation status of the marine habitat types and species go to:
[7] From Commission Staff Working Paper (October 2011). It may be subject to further modification.
[8]
[9]