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Le Ministère de l’Ecologie, de l’Energie et de la Mer a confié au Service du Patrimoine Naturel (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle), en lien étroit avec les acteurs de la recherche scientifique, la coordination d’un projet sur l’évaluation de la sensibilité des habitats benthiques aux pressions d’origine anthropique. L’objectif de ce travail est de qualifier la sensibilité générique des habitats présents en France métropolitaine pour aider à l’orientation et à la priorisation de mesures de gestion (pour des activités actuelles ou futures), adaptées aux enjeux de conservation, afin de respecter les objectifs d’atteinte ou de maintien d’un ECF (DCSMM) ou BEE (DHFF). Ce travail permet également de mettre en évidence les habitats et/ou les pressions pour lesquels les données et connaissances sont limitées, pour mieux orienter les futurs projets d’acquisition de connaissances. Les livrables de ce projet ont pour vocation à servir d’outil d’aide à la gestion des activités anthropiques. Les évaluations de sensibilité ont été réalisées selon la méthodologie décrite précédemment (La Rivière et al., 2015) par un groupe d’experts spécialistes des habitats benthiques, co-auteurs de ce rapport, lors de deux ateliers travail qui se sont déroulés à Marseille en octobre 2015. Elles se basent sur les meilleures connaissances disponibles à ce jour et ont été complétées par l’avis de ces experts. Il a été choisi de réaliser les évaluations de sensibilité à travers des ateliers de travail thématiques afin de (i) minimiser le biais d’interprétation de chaque expert en clarifiant le contexte d’application des évaluations, (ii) mutualiser les connaissances (en particulier sur des habitats peu connus), et ainsi (iii) maximiser la robustesse des évaluations. Les évaluations ont été réparties en deux ateliers de travail (un atelier par type de substrat – habitats de substrats durs ou de substrats meubles) animés par le SPN et réunissant onze experts benthologues. Des experts externes, cités comme contributeurs au projet, ont été sollicités lorsqu’une expertise spécifique complémentaire s’est révélée nécessaire. Ce travail permettra de constituer une base de données, générique et partagée, de sensibilité des habitats benthiques. Une matrice synthétique illustrant les liens potentiels entre les activités anthropiques et les pressions utilisées pour les analyses de sensibilité, compilée à partir des informations déjà disponibles et validées (rapports de l’évaluation initiale de la DCSMM, référentiels pour la gestion dans les sites Natura 2000, etc.) a été élaborée en collaboration avec des experts techniques (BRGM, IFREMER) et est disponible sur la page du programme sur le site de l’INPN. Cette matrice activités/pressions, mise en commun avec les matrices de sensibilité habitats/pressions, permettra d’identifier les enjeux potentiels de sensibilité habitats/activités. Ce rapport présente la première version des évaluations de sensibilité des habitats benthiques de Méditerranée à certaines pressions physiques. Les évaluations de sensibilité aux autres pressions physiques, biologiques et chimiques seront réalisées dans un deuxième temps.

The Protocol concerning specially protected areas and biological diversity in the Mediterranean and the Action Plan for the protection of the marine environment and the sustainable development of Mediterranean coastal areas (MAP Phase II), adopted by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention in 1995, contain arrangements for preparing inventories at national and regional level. In this context, at their Tenth Ordinary Meeting (Tunis, 18-21 November 1997), the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution adopted common criteria to establish national inventories of natural sites of conservation interest. During that Meeting, the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) was invited to work on elaborating these tools, including a Standard Data Form (SDF) to compile information concerning the sites included in the national inventories of sites of conservation interest. This form is intended to help in decision-making on the management and, if need be, protection of the site described, and to provide a tool for long-term monitoring. At the Fourth Meeting of National Focal Points for Specially Protected Areas (Tunis, 12-14 April 1999), RAC/SPA elaborated a reference list of types of habitat and a reference list of species for selecting the sites to be included in the national inventories, and a draft Standard Data Form whose general framework was adopted at the Eleventh Ordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties (Malta, 27-30 October 1999). The draft Standard Data Form for the national inventories of natural sites of conservation interest was finalized in March 2000 in Rome at a Meeting of Experts. However, this tool should be regularly incremented to make it is efficient as possible. From the technical point of view, the SDF is an adaptation of tools developed in the context of the European Union’s and European Council’s NATURA 2000 and EMERAUDE network of sites to the specific features of the Mediterranean. This specificity ensures compatibility, as far as is possible, and thus facilitates the sharing of data and information, with database systems established as part of these initiatives. In accordance with the overall aims of the inventories, the SDF was designed with a double objective: - to give help in decision-making concerning the management and, if need be, protection of the site described - to provide a tool for the long-term monitoring of the site. From this angle, the Tunis Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas initiated the production of this handbook for interpreting the marine habitats that appear on the list of habitats that is appended to the Standard Data Form. The aim was to provide countries with a tool to help them identify and assess these marine habitats. This handbook must satisfy a triple requirement: -- scientific rigour -- readability for non-specialists -- compatibility with existing classification systems (EUR 15 European Union Habitat Directive, CORINE). To this end, the document has been subdivided into two levels: - detailed ‘habitats/biocenoses’ sheets to allow a general description - more specific ‘facies/associations’ sheets. Indeed, it appears to be difficult to fully describe a facies or an association without having first set them within their biocenosis. Similarly, this method of compilation avoids repetition where several facies belong to the same biocenosis. Published Refereed Current 14.2 Mature Multi-organisational International Method Reports with methodological relevance

Lindaspio sebastiena n. sp. (figures 1���6) Material examined HOLOTYPE: MNHN UE 854, incomplete individual, length 30 mm, width 4 mm in the anterior part, 92 setigers. PARATYPES: MNHN UE 855, three incomplete individuals: (1) length 33 mm, width 2 mm in the anterior part, 140 setigers; (2) length 45 mm, width 3 mm, 180 setigers; (3) length 50 mm, width 3 mm in the anterior part, 160 setigers. Two specimens prepared for SEM examination (in the collection of G.B. at Station marine d���Endoume, Marseilles). Description Colour in alcohol: pale yellow. Prostomium anteriorly bilobed, partly hidden by two large short conical palps; caruncle absent, palps tapering to pointed tip, not extending beyond setiger 3 (figure 1). Setiger 1 reduced to small neuropodial lobe in lateral position. Notopodial lamellae of second setigerous segment marginally rounded. Neuropodial lamellae subquadrate, larger than notopodial lamellae in anterior setigers. Notopodia and neuropodia of setigers 2, 3 and 4 slightly larger than those of following setigers. Notopodia of setigers 2, 3 and 4 shifted dorsally to medial position. Notopodia of setigers 5���8 gradually shifted to lateral position. Notopodia and neuropodia with presetal lobes well developed in middle and posterior setigers. Dorsal branchiae appear from the setiger 2 and remaining short to setiger 30. Further on, their length increases, exceeding animal width. Neuropodial branchiae absent in the anterior part. From setiger 30 small neuropodial expansion, becoming well-developed neuropodial branchiae by setiger 40. From setiger 40 to end of all fragments, noto- and neuropodial branchiae of same length and shape (figures 2a, 3a). These elongated branchiae, in particular notopodial ones, covered with thick felting (figure 3b���d), possibly caused by an accumulation of polypeptides and retaining silt and other sediment detritus. Felting simple but firmly pasted along interior part of cirri. All neuropodia bear capillary setae. First notopodium lacks setae. Notopodia 2, 3, 4 bearing around 20 heavy projecting acicular spines, arranged in three horizontal rows (figure 4). Spines of posterior row larger, longer than those of other two rows. From parapodium 5, notopodial setae are all capillaries. From parapodium 55 and posteriorly, two notopodial hooded hooks appear (figure 2b), together with six smaller, more delicate multidentate neuropodial acicular hooded hooks (figures 2c, 5). Hooded hooks with several minute teeth above main fang. From setiger 60, there are four to five notopodial and 10 neuropodial acicular setae. In middle and posterior neuropodia, long special, spiny splintered setae present, larger than usual capillary setae, and easily detectable. Their end is abruptly bent, then sinuous, with their hirsute surface covered with minute spinelets (figure 6). Posterior end of body and pygidium unknown. Etymology. The species is named for Sebastien Amouroux. Ecology. Lindaspio sebastiena n. sp. was collected in the N���Kossa (Republic of Congo) oil field. Sediment is a muddy (30% silt) coarse sand (41% sand) containing a large amount of organic carbon (2.4%), barium (5210 ppm) and hydrocarbons (4680 ppm). These three pollutants come from the oil-field drilling. More important species of the community are, with L. sebastiena, Capitella cf. capitata (Fabricius, 1780), Ophiodromus berrisfordi Day, 1967 and a new Vesicomyidae (von Cosel and Salas, in preparation)., Published as part of Bellan, G��rard, Dauvin, Jean-Claude & Laubier, Lucien, 2003, The genus Lindaspio (Annelida: Polychaeta: Spionidae), and a new species from an oil field off Congo, western Africa, pp. 2413-2424 in Journal of Natural History 37 (20) on pages 2414-2415, DOI: 10.1080/00222930210155666, http://zenodo.org/record/4653292

Lindaspio Blake and Maciolek, 1992 Diagnosis emend. Gender feminine. Prostomium incised, developed into two frontal lobes or weak horns; caruncle present or absent; occipital tentacle absent. Peristomial wings absent. Notopodia of setigers 2���4 with fascicles of heavy spines. Anterior neuropodial spines present. Dorsal branchiae from setiger 2; ventral branchiae from an anterior segment, branchiae closely associated with parapodial lamellae, continuing to posterior end. Setiger 1 reduced, with notopodia reduced to single lamellae lacking notosetae; notopodia and neuropodia with capillaries and hooded hooks. Pygidium simple, conical, lacking cirri. Table 3 charts differences between the three species of Lindaspio recognized here. From a morphological point of view, it is rather clear that these three species are very similar, even if we could consider the minute differences are significant. For example, L. dibranchiata and L. sebastiena have in common their width and the number of anterior heavy spines; L. southwardorum and L. sebastiena share the same number of the heavy spines and the level of appearance of the first neuro-hooks. However, differences in depth and geographical location at which L. sebastiena has been collected compared with the two other Lindaspio species are striking, and do not permit synonymy with either of them. Another point to consider is the large and unusual size of the branchiae, chiefly the ventral ones, in Lindaspio species. In a recent paper, Hourdez et al. (1998) observed that polychaetes from hydrothermal vents (alvinellids and polynoids) and from cold seeps (orbiniids) exhibit increased specific gill surface area which could be anatomical and physiological adaptations to hypoxyia. This observation could be applied to spionids such as Lindaspio. Another important point is the felting present on the branchiae of L. sebastiena which could be correlated with the environment, organically enriched in hydrocarbons and barium. Such a felting could represent an analogy with the bacterial accumulation on the posterior part of the body of Alvinella caudata Desbruy��res and Laubier, 1986. It is of some interest to recall that L. sebastiena was collected together with an undescribed species of Vesicomyidae, Vesicomyarum sp. (Cosel and Salas, in preparation), and that various Vesicomyids are associated with symbiotic sulpho-oxidizing bacteria., Published as part of Bellan, G��rard, Dauvin, Jean-Claude & Laubier, Lucien, 2003, The genus Lindaspio (Annelida: Polychaeta: Spionidae), and a new species from an oil field off Congo, western Africa, pp. 2413-2424 in Journal of Natural History 37 (20) on pages 2420-2423, DOI: 10.1080/00222930210155666, http://zenodo.org/record/4653292, {"references":["BLAKE, J. A. and MACIOLEK, N. J., 1992, Polychaeta from deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the eastern Pacific. III. A new Genus and two new Species of Spionidae from the Guaymas Basin and Juan de Fuca Ridge with comments on a related species from the Western North Atlantic, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 105 (4), 723 - 732.","HOURDEZ, S., WEBER, R. E., LALLIER, F. H. and FISHER, C. R., 1998, Adaptations to chronic hypoxia from hydrothermal vents and cold-seeps, American Zoologist, 38, 161 A.","DESBRUYERES, D. and LAUBIER, L., 1986, Les Alvinellidae, une famille nouvelle d'annelides polychetes infeodees aux sources hydrothermales sous-marines: systematique, biologie et ecologie, Canadian Journal of Zoology, 64 (10), 2227 - 2245."]}

The impact of pollution on the macrobenthos was studied through a seasonal cycle by analysis of samples taken at 34 stations in the different basins of Algiers harbour (Mustapha, Agha and Vieux Port). Physical and chemical characteristics were measured in the water column (temperature, salinity, seston, dissolved oxygen) and sediment (pH). The faunistic composition of the stations was assessed according to the ecological significance of species or groups of species as determinants of pollution. There were close correlations between the physical and chemical characteristics at che stations and the spatial distribution of species and species assemblages. Seasonal variation in populations was most marked in Mustapha basin, less noticeable in Agha and weak in the Vieux Port. The benthic population was always more degraded in the inner part of the docks than in the outer basins. There is a very strong gradient of degradation from the northern entrance of the Vieux Port, where the macrobentic community is similar to that of the Bay of Algiers, to the innermost part of the docks, in Mustapha, which are macroscopically azoic.

Changes over a period of thirty years in a circalittoral mud community (% silt greater than or equal to 75) in the Gulf of Fos (French, Mediterranean coast) have been followed at three sites spaced along a transect NNW-SSE at depths of 15, 35 and 70 m. The results clearly show how the macrobenthic community at the three sites has been influenced by the construction of the port of Fos, notably as a consequence of sediment suspension during the dredging of the docks and the access channel, but also due to the dumping at sea of dredged material (more than 100 x 10(6) m(3) were dredged, about a quarter of which was dumped at sea, at depths of 30 to 60 m). The grouping of the samples taken before, during and after the development of the port (1963-1964, from 1972 to 1979 and 1984 to 1993), by principal component analysis (PCA) and by parsimonious analysis, a method derived from cladistic phylogeny, together with the variations during this period of certain descriptive factors (species diversity, abundance of biological indicators), show that: 1) in shallow water (15 m) and on the dumping sites (35 m) the community changed considerably; 2) after the completion of the port development, the community at these two sites not only remained very different from the original community, but also failed to achieve a new equilibrium; 3) in deeper water, even when under the influence of the port construction, there was no fundamental change in the nature of the community; and 4) variations in the outflow of the Rhone river during this period cause changes linked to climatic events that act in addition to those resulting from human disturbance.

Parsimonious analysis, a method used in cladistics, which considers the coherence of characters, is used to establish the phylogeny of different taxa. Its use in the analysis of ecological and biogeographical data in marine benthic studies remains rare. Application to data collected from ecological or biogeographical works and previously studied by classical analysis demonstrates the potential and the advantages of this method in the study of spatio-temporal marine benthic series.

The concepts of sympatry and allopatry. of syntopy and allotopy. are the basis of the relationship between systematics and ecology. In the Roscoff region (French coasts off the British Channel). Ampelisca (amphipoda) are present in syntopy ; nine species live in the subtidal muddy sands of the Bay of Morlaix. while five species of Ophelia (polychaeta) occur in four distinct intertidal and subtidal biotopes (fine to coarse sands). Differences in reproductive strategies, food preferences or microhabitat requirements (notably ''volume of life''), have often been used to explain such patterns of distribution. However we suggest that an alternative strategy may be one of evolutionary strategies related to population levels. The syntopic distribution of a genus is not a chance level. Dense populations of Ampelisca were wiped out by the oil spill from the ''Amoco Cadiz'' in 1978 but they re-appeared within 10 years of this pollution event, in spite of even though amphipods lack a free swimming larval stage, and the distance of non-perturbed populations of Ampelisca allowing the recolonisation.

The Mondego estuary consists of two arms, north and south. The north arm is deeper, while the south arm is largely silted up, causing freshwater to flow primarily by the north arm. Environmental stress is severe. essentially due to harbour activities, salt-works, aquaculture farms. and nutrients and chemicals discharged from agricultural areas of the lower Mondego river valley. From December 1989 to September 1990 a study of the subtidal macrofaunal community was carried out. Polychaetes were found to be the most abundant macrofaunal group of the Mondego estuary subtidal community, representing about 34.5 % of the species and 63 % of the individuals sampled. Both biological and physicochemical data were analysed by principal components analysis (PCA), and data on the Polychaete fauna was also analysed with regard to spatial and temporal variations of total abundance. The Mondego estuary seems to present an impoverished subtidal Polychaete fauna with regard to the number of species, although the south arm presents enhanced populations. In the inner areas of the south arm. the Polychaete fauna is characterized by abundant populations of Amage adspersa, followed by more sparse populations of Capitella capitata, Heteromastus filiformis, Polydora ciliata, and Streblospio shrubsolii. Moreover, the number of species was roughly stable through the year, and Polychaetes exhibited by far the most elevated abundances found in the estuary. In the north arm, the Polychaete fauna was characterized by Hediste diversicolor and Streblospio shrubsolii, almost restricted to the upstream section, followed by the sporadic occurrence of other species. The north arm exhibited an extremely impoverished Polychaete fauna, both in number of species and total abundance. as compared to the south arm. In the downstream area of the south arm and near the mouth of the estuary the Polychaete fauna was characterized by the occurrence of a mixture of uncommon species e.g. Eulalia sp., Eteone picta, Glycera convoluta, Lagis koreni, Nephthys spp.

La zone de Fos-Berre a subi de profondes transformations au cours des 20 dernières années : implantation d'un vaste complexe portuaire et industriel, augmentation de la population, modifications consécutives à l'aménagement du Bas-Rhône et de la Durance. Dès 1971, la création du S.P.P.P.I. a permis pour la première fois en France, de mettre en place une action coordonnée entre les administrations, les scientifiques, les élus et les usagers, destinée à préserver le milieu naturel des différents types de pollution engendrée par ce développement

Ce rapport présente les fiches descriptives des 32 unités d’habitats de niveau 3 (biocénose) et 119 unités de niveau 4 (faciès et associations) de la typologie des biocénoses benthiques de Méditerranée version 2, pour servir d’outil d’aide à l’identification et la conservation des habitats. Les habitats ont été décrits sur la base des descriptions existantes dans d’autres typologies complétées par les connaissances disponibles. Ce travail a également permis de mettre à jour la typologie pour suivre les évolutions taxonomiques des espèces caractéristiques, clarifier des libellés d’unité et supprimer un faciès. Toutes les fiches descriptives sont également disponibles en ligne sur les pages habitats de l’INPN.