Marine Hard Bottom Communities

Abstract

Hard-substrate habitats include rock, the hard parts of organisms, and anthropogenic materials that vary in composition, physical properties, and spatial extent (Taylor and Wilson 2003, Wahl 2009). Hard substrates provide stable surfaces on which benthic organisms (i.e., the organisms that live on, in, or near the seabed) can attach or move across. This is in contrast to the extensive areas of unconsolidated sediments that characterize the seafloor (presented in Chapter 8 of this book); these “soft-bottom” environments are less stable and are typically colonized by species that burrow or attach within the sediment surface itself (Little and Little 2000).