15.13: Shallow Offshore Benthic Communities

Shallow Offshore Benthic Communities

Shallow offshore benthic communities include:
• offshore sand bars (mostly inhabited by burrowing organisms)
• rocky bottoms (host many attached organisms)
• coralline reefs (complex, self-constructing communities).

Shallow offshore benthic communities are described as rich ecosystems because of the diversity and abundance of organisms in some of these environmental settings.

Figure 15.64. Northern Europe rocky bottom community