Subtidal Habitat

Subtidal habitat is the seabed and water column below the low-tide mark, continuously submerged and never exposed to air, in contrast with the intertidal zone. It spans the photic shallow subtidal, where light supports kelp forests, seagrass meadows, and coral, down to deeper soft and hard bottoms structured by sediment, current, and biogenic habitat. Subtidal communities are mapped and protected as features under the EU Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC and assessed for seabed integrity under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC. They are exposed to bottom trawling, dredging, and sedimentation.