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Summary: MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES
Mar Ecol Prog Ser
Vol. 290: 8996, 2005 Published April 13
INTRODUCTION
The Atlantic SW coast of the Iberian Peninsula is a
biogeographical transition zone where many Atlantic
marine species encounter their southern and northern
limits, and Mediterranean species their western limits
(European Register of Marine Species, www.vliz.be/
vmdcdata/erms/, and links therein). This coastal area
exhibits a harsh combination of environmental condi-
tions for soft sediment populations, due both to high
levels of physical stress and to water motion-driven
substrate instability, resulting in small, geographically
isolated patches of suitable habitat which are mostly
restricted to estuaries and coastal lagoons. In such
habitats, seagrass communities play several key roles,
for instance, they are primary producers, nurseries for
important fish and shellfish populations, they filter sus-
pended matter, and stabilize soft sediments.
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