Chapter 1 of 4
Mapping and data
Where are the habitats, and how do we know?
Where Europe's marine habitats are, and how we know: the survey methods that see the seabed, how maps are checked and named, and where the data lives.
3 paths
About this chapter
What this chapter covers
Restoration starts with a map. This chapter explains how the habitats of European seas are surveyed and mapped: from satellite imagery in clear shallow water to acoustic surveys in deeper water, and the divers and cameras that check what the instruments see.
It also covers what turns a survey into a map others can use: a shared habitat classification (EUNIS), a statement of how confident each part of the map is, and open repositories such as EMODnet where maps and data are published and reused.
The state of the habitats, what restoring them costs and where to do it are left to the next chapters. The guided paths here go from a first introduction for curious readers to the full survey chain for practitioners.
Questions it answers
- Why do we need a habitat map before planning any restoration?
- Which survey method fits a given depth and water clarity?
- How do divers and cameras check that a map is right?
- How is a mapped habitat named so other teams can compare maps?
- Where can existing European habitat maps and data be found?
At a glance
What you will find inside
- guided paths
- 3
- pages
- 7
- to read every page
- 42 min
- sources
- 17
Pages by level
- Introductory · 4
- Intermediate · 3
Paths written for
- Planners and public officers
- Researchers
- Students
- Curious citizens
Sources by type
Guided paths in this chapter
Each path is a short route through the pages of this chapter, on one topic, for a kind of reader. Pick the one that fits.
Habitat mapping
- Guided paths Sample
Map a meadow from scratch
The survey chain in four steps: choose the sensors, read the sound, check on the seabed, name what you found.
For Researchers, Students
4 steps · 27 min - Guided paths Sample
First steps in habitat mapping
Why maps come first, how divers check them, and where anyone can look at them.
For Curious citizens, Students
3 steps · 15 min
Other paths
Go deeper
Sources in this chapter
The papers, datasets and guidelines cited by the pages above.
- Paper
Habitat suitability model for predicting the occurrence of scleractinian cold-water corals in the Gulf of Naples (Tyrrhenian Sea): A tool for restoration planning and governance of deep-sea ecosystems
- Paper
Application of Hyperspectral Imaging to Underwater Habitat Mapping, Southern Adriatic Sea
- Geoportal
LIFE MAPPER Geoportal
The LIFE MAPPER Geoportal developed by CNR is an integrated platform supporting habitat mapping and restoration across European seas. It enables the integration and visualisation of spatial data, the assessment of knowledge gaps, and interoperability through OGC-compliant services. By bringing together resources from major European initiatives, the platform supports data accessibility, decision-making, habitat restoration and environmental management.
- Paper
Environmental niche, spatial distribution and size structure of shelf-dwelling populations of the gorgonian Eunicella cavolini (Koch, 1887) in NW Mediterranean
A study of deep populations of the gorgonian Eunicella cavolini on the continental shelf off Cap de Creus (NW Mediterranean), inside a Natura 2000 site. Combining 60 video transects with environmental data, it finds dense colonies mainly at 95–110 m, on mixed gravel and rock with moderate bottom currents and no recent trawling. A Random Forest model maps about 14 ha of suitable seabed. For Life Mapper it shows how density data from video and a few environmental layers become a predictive habitat map, an approach that can be reused where direct observations are scarce. It also links mapping to management: the drivers it identifies — currents, rocky substrate, absence of trawling and the by-catch of large colonies in trammel nets — point to concrete protection measures in Natura 2000 sites, and its figures give a baseline for monitoring the restoration actions already under way at Cap de Creus.