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Papers, datasets, guidelines, case studies and platforms cited by the knowledge pages, in one searchable place. Filter them by habitat, region, method or type, and open any source to see its details, its files and the pages that cite it.
8 resources
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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.
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Near-pristine benthic habitats on the Francesc Pagès Bank, Alboran Sea, western Mediterranean
First description of the seafloor and habitats of the Francesc Pagès Bank, a volcanic high on the Moroccan upper slope of the southern Alboran Sea (76–580 m deep). The authors map its crests, banks and ridges from multibeam data, classify the physical habitats automatically and check them against ROV video, which reveals dense and unusually well-preserved gardens of gorgonians, soft corals and sponges. For Life Mapper it is a worked example of the mapping chain the guidelines describe: multibeam bathymetry, automatic classification of physical habitats as surrogates, then ROV ground-truthing to tie them to the species actually present. It concerns Group 5 habitats (sponge, coral and coralligenous beds), and because its assemblages are near-pristine it can serve as a reference for what these habitats look like in good condition — the baseline that condition assessments and restoration targets need.
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